If you can find it in your heart to look beyond the belly fat and brown pimply skin you will see the golden glistening eyes of this glorious toad. Living in a luxurious resort in St Lucia, this toad was clearly the queen of this pond, each night posing proudly atop the lilies. St Lucia is one of the homes of the cane toad (Rhinella marina) also known as the giant neotropical toad. On average they grow to about 10-15cm (4-6 inches), but have been recorded as large as 38cm (15 inches) and weighing 2.65kg (5.8lb). This toad was introduced into northern Australia as a predator to combat the beetles which were eating sugar cane crops. This turned out to be a futile endeavor since the beetles kept to the top of the sugar canes and the toads have poor climbing skills, so instead the toads outcompete many Australian reptiles and frogs for food which is easier to access. So as beautiful as they may be under that brown pimply skin, they should have stayed at home.
Laura Lecce's art and photography 
We have a toad living near my wife’s garden. In fact, it may be living in the Toad Abode she purchased for him/her. My wife refers to him as “my handsome prince” and thanks him for the bugs he eats.
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Hi Dan, that’s so funny. I think there are only a few of us that would very much welcome a toad into our garden and thank them for eating the bugs, your wife is a very lucky lady to have such a friend 🙂
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Good shot of this toad, Laura. Most interesting. 🙂
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Thank you Iris, it was a great subject to photograph… just sat completely still and watched me.
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That’s must be pleasing for you! Still you must have looked friendly, Laura. ;
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Lol, I do try my best to always look friendly 🙂
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Yes, I think photographers have that knack. 🙂 Well done… it was a great photo!
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That is one big toad! I think I prefer our leopard frogs in the looks department but this one has a rather striking presence!
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I Googled the leopard frog… very beautiful! Quite big for a frog too.
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Neat looking frog :-). Too bad it doesn’t play well in the Australian ecosystem.
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Hi Myriam,
Yes it’s a bit of a bully in Australia, but definitely a cool critter. I’ve never seen one in Aus, they’re much further north of where I lived. When I took this photo, I didn’t even know I was looking at the famous cane toad 😉
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