Marcia The worst problem with the cane toads is the breeding. They have spawned so heavily in the smaller pools to cause the whole system to turn into a smelly cesspool. They produce more tadpoles then have room to swim. I have netted as many as 3 gallons at a time . To my knowledge there is nothing that will eat them including snakes . Not sure if the toxins they produce are present in tadpole form but have noted that grackles will catch them but won't eat . I thought above ground pool would slow them down as they are so clumsy but they manage to get in anyway. They have been around s. florida for a long time but in the last 2/3 years have really become a problem. I'm guessing because of the drought.?? Anyway so far in april have netted 75 adults enough tadpoles to fill a 5 gallon bucket,removed enough egg masses to fill a gallon jar . Still have so many tadpoles the fish can't swim lol. Was reading an article about them in Austalia where the problem is 100 times worse than the US. In the research the ONLY thing they have found that will eat them is King Cobras. They prove fatal to native snakes as well as other native toads frogs. I have been putting the captured adults in a garbage can, tadpoles and eggs spread out on sand . haven't found a humane way to kill such large numbers . No I'm not going to put 75 toads in the freezer lol. Any other suggestions??? gary

Thank you so much! Spring migration keeps me so busy taking more photos, I've been getting far behind. Every time we stop by the Minor Clark Fish Hatchery we see something different 4-25-10, Minor Clark Fish Hatchery, Solitary Sandpiper From April 23, 2010 birds plus we spent the weekend camping and birding at the Kentucky Ornithological Society's spring meet at Jenny Wiley State Park, so tons MORE photos to sort, edit

Not surprised about your cam-we've not had one single IR cam work, and even our trusty Non-typical Cuddeback flash cam went beserk, altho I suspect animal tampering. The same day my cam broke, a neighbor's dog went beserk barking at dawn, so he turned it loose. Jeff said he and his two sons saw a "black panther" stick its head around the barn, give the dog one swipe across the face, then walk off into the woods without a backward glance. He said it had a "3 foot tail." I was nervous about our dogs, but he said the cat only attacked in self-defense and didn't kill the dog tho he had to 2 take it 2 the vet for stitches. I kept reminding myself that jaguars don't attack people last night while we were sleeping in our screen tent with front flap open when I kept hearing it (?) bawling in the woods behind our house. It happened 5-6 times over two hours time-each time all the dogs in neighborhood would go beserk. Luckily, none of our dogs are loose. I'm still waiting to get my cam back. Since most of the birds spooked and avoided the new chair blind, even tho it was hidden in the brush, I'm going to try out a new bird blind prototype invention idea this a.m. that should make me "invisible" and draw birds to me at the same time.

Superficially it could appear to be a copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) - but if you look carefully at the head you can make out that it is very Nerodia-esque (not to mention that the habitat is a pretty darned good hint!). It could look like a banded watersnake (Nerodia fasciata) but you are just out of the range of them in the Broad River. What you have there is a northern watersnake (Nerodia sipedon) - a very nicely patterned one but N. sipedon nonetheless. ~Mike Here is a link that might be useful: northern watersnake