Toads

I wondered when I would find my first cane toad upon moving to Queensland, I asked locals why I had not  instantly seen them if they had already reached plague proportions. They said they usually come out in the rain. And so it was that the encounter came quickly. In the first week of living here, after a wet spell, I went for a swim in my communal pool and found a little brown frog afloat and alive. The depth of pool from the surface is such that it would not possibly be able to escape the pond of captivity. At the time, although I suspected it, I was not sure if it was a toad or a frog. It was not until I had lifted it out of the pool and spoken to the caretaker that I found out it was a toad. Apparently green ones are tree frogs and all the brown ones are toads. I have some knowledge about what a pest they are, and how the appropriate action is to exterminate this pest when you are able. A couple of days later walking home from university I saw a cane toad, this time this one was the size of a cricket ball. Today is a typical FNQ day, blue skies, thirty plus and a gentle breeze. I went to complete my laps and was surprised to find a larger cane toad also getting some exercise. We shared the pool for the remaining twenty minutes of my session. Sometimes he crossed my path, and knowing the cane toad is poisonous, I tried my best to avoid my much smaller counterpart. While I swam I thought to myself about the ethics of the situation. I despise neutrality and indecision so it was with much consternation I decided the best course of action on how to resolve the situation. The cane toad circled the pool many times while I watched it frolic. It was clear that it wished to go and obvious that it would never happen. It would soon probably drown from the energy it consumed and from the dehydration caused by the hot Australian sun. Despite not wishing an creature to result either from my actions or inaction, I remained in a deep state of debate over the best solution. If I was to save the creature by letting it escape the fate it created for itself it would no doubt go on to continue its dominant evolutionary state it maintains in the Australian ecosystem. And if I was to leave it there essentially I was playing God, either in his omnipotence or total absence from control. Ultimately I decided the best course of action was probably that I should act just like everyone else, behave like it is not my problem and hope that someone else shows up to deal with it. Besides, I did not want dead toad on my thongs.