Like frogs, Cane Toads hatch into tadpoles within two or three days, and swim around looking cute and inoffensive for around four to eight weeks before they develop into toadlets. Still sounds pretty adorable, right? Wrong. These toadlets can reach adult size within twelve months in tropical conditions, at which point they turn into the wart-studded invaders we all love to hate.

Now, for the uninitiated it’s important to note that we don’t all get around hating on Cane Toads just because they’re ugly – we’re not that shallow. The real reason these critters are abhorred is their poison, and it’s particularly nasty stuff. Their parotoid glands produce and store a toxin made up of bufotenine and epinephrine, and these steroid-like substances are toxic to most animals – including humans. The toxin oozes out of the glands and the toad can also squirt it a short distance, and is absorbed through the mucous membranes of other animals (that’s the eyes, mouth and nose, for those who weren’t paying attention in biology).

Humans poisoned by Cane Toads may experience vomiting, high blood pressure, increased heart rate, headache, respiratory effects, temporary blindness and even paralysis, as well as severe pain and inflammation at the site. While there’s never been a death in Australia from Cane Toad poisoning, there have been incidents overseas where people have died after eating dishes made from Cane Toads or their eggs – not an option you’re likely to see on your local pub bistro menu any time soon.

Before you start spraying Croaked all over your backyard with reckless abandon, you need to know how to identify a Cane Toad, and what characteristics set them apart from harmless native frogs.

Spotted what you think might be Cane Toad eggs? They’ll be laid in long chains, with individual eggs that look like little black beads encased in a jelly-like substance. Often the eggs will be in double rows. They can become tangle and look like a mass of eggs, but if you pick them up with a stick you’ll see the individual strands hang down. Tadpoles are shiny, with a black top and blue, grey or black underside. They are oval-shaped with transparent finds and a short tail, and grow to around 30mm in length. They tend to hang out in large, slow-moving groups and unlike the tadpoles of native frogs they don’t need to come up to the surface to breathe, making identification easier.