Light to sweep property for invasive, toxic, well-camouflaged toads

gifthunter · Nov 19, 2020

I'd like you to meet one of the most unwelcome guests on my property: the poisonous, invasive cane toad. These have no natural predators, eat everything, lay 25,000 eggs at a time, and are toxic enough to kill your dog in 10 minutes. This area is long past hopes of elimination. The best we can do is try and keep the numbers, the risk, and the damage down. Wildlife authorities encourage everyone to eliminate as many as possible, but they keep coming.

At least the pythons are easier to spot.

They range from brown to orange to tan to gray and camouflage well in gardens and against rocks. Even in the middle of grass, I initially mistook this one for organic debris. My no-name flashlight couldn't light it up enough. I nearly missed two others of a more gray color hiding in rock gardens. I hate to think how many more I'm missing because of a lousy flashlight.

I need a flashlight which can pick these out at a distance from the backgrounds they hide in when sweeping quickly across the lawn and gardens, which is tough to do with too little light and too narrow of a beam. The light needs to be very bright, with a good throw, but also enough spill/zoom to make wide sweeps fast. They love hiding under bushes and other vegetation, so a beam which can light up the underside even when most is wasted on leaves is a huge plus.

Also, because of their coloration, good color rendering is a must. Cane toads are tough to spot, especially in gardens and rocks. I had too little light and the washout was terrible, causing me to nearly miss two in rocks. Good color contrast is essential.

I would prefer 21700 and USB-C rechargeable for convenience if I'm ever away from a charger, though I could settle for an 18650. Would like to keep the types of batteries I stock consistent.

The more of these I can get rid of the better our native species will do. A neighbor two doors down lost her dog last month when it tried to play with a toad.

Right now, I'm probably missing more than I spot by a huge margin. Not good.

parametrek · Nov 19, 2020

I know of only 2 lights that offer high CRI and 21700 and USB-C: The Sofirn IF25 (Luminus SST-20 and $30) or the Acebeam EC65 (Nichia 219C version and $100). The IF25 has a slightly tighter beam but either would probably work.

Jean-Luc Descarte · Nov 19, 2020

If you don't mind giving up the USB-C charging, you can get a Convoy M21B with a Nichia 219C. Should give you a really nice spot/spill ratio. Don't recommend the SST20 on it, it'd be way too throwy with minimal spill.

sgt253 · Nov 19, 2020

I would agree with parametrek that these are two good examples of a light that you are seeking. It's my understanding that the Sofirn light uses type a to type c charging. Basically a usb on one end and a type c connector on the other. I don't believe it is truly a fast type charging set up. The Acebeam is. Charges at 2 amps. Good luck. These toads sound like a full time job! Crazy.

Chicken Drumstick · Nov 19, 2020

gifthunter said:
I'd like you to meet one of the most unwelcome guests on my property: the poisonous, invasive cane toad. These have no natural predators, eat everything, lay 25,000 eggs at a time, and are toxic enough to kill your dog in 10 minutes. This area is long past hopes of elimination. The best we can do is try and keep the numbers, the risk, and the damage down. Wildlife authorities encourage everyone to eliminate as many as possible, but they keep coming.

At least the pythons are easier to spot.

They range from brown to orange to tan to gray and camouflage well in gardens and against rocks. Even in the middle of grass, I initially mistook this one for organic debris. My no-name flashlight couldn't light it up enough. I nearly missed two others of a more gray color hiding in rock gardens. I hate to think how many more I'm missing because of a lousy flashlight.

I need a flashlight which can pick these out at a distance from the backgrounds they hide in when sweeping quickly across the lawn and gardens, which is tough to do with too little light and too narrow of a beam. The light needs to be very bright, with a good throw, but also enough spill/zoom to make wide sweeps fast. They love hiding under bushes and other vegetation, so a beam which can light up the underside even when most is wasted on leaves is a huge plus.

Also, because of their coloration, good color rendering is a must. Cane toads are tough to spot, especially in gardens and rocks. I had too little light and the washout was terrible, causing me to nearly miss two in rocks. Good color contrast is essential.

I would prefer 21700 and USB-C rechargeable for convenience if I'm ever away from a charger, though I could settle for an 18650. Would like to keep the types of batteries I stock consistent.

The more of these I can get rid of the better our native species will do. A neighbor two doors down lost her dog last month when it tried to play with a toad.

Right now, I'm probably missing more than I spot by a huge margin. Not good.

Do these show up under UV light? Might be another option to help spot them?

For high CRI warm light. How about a Noctigon Emisar D18?

$99 and a choice of 400k or 2700k @ 95CRI

LeanBurn · Nov 19, 2020

😳 Cane toads...I never knew.

gifthunter · Nov 19, 2020

Thanks everyone for the input!

I suppose I don't need USB-C. I have a Miboxer C8 for drones which can charge even the longest protected 21700s. I suppose not being wedded to a charging station is nice if I ever take the light with me anywhere.

Couldn't find anything about UV visibility. Google is clogged with results on UV used in trapping them. Some other reptiles stand out under UV. I have UV A/B/C sources and can check. If they do stick out? Even better.

I suppose I probably don't need what sites are classifying as "high CRI" - certainly nothing like workspace quality lighting. However, straight cold blue isn't working and I do need a healthy amount of color contrast to pick out skin patterns from the environment. Just not lousy. I do need a fuller spectrum. There's more to light than just a single CCT measurement. My office is lit at 6500K but it's Rf 99, CRI 99.something. Big difference.

That Noctigon seems like an incredible deal. I've been browsing Battery Junction, Illumn, and a few others for the last hour and can't find anything close to those specs for that price.

I had been leaning towards an Acebeam X10 which combines spot + flood in two different temperatures, with the flood CRI >= 90. It's light and thin, which is great for off-hand use. The turbo mode sucks though, according to reports. Forget 7k, it's really about an 1800 lumen light, and that's not enough. I wish there were a better selection of lights which can sustain at least 3k that aren't so tight. Honestly, the worst part of this shopping experience has been sifting through all the headline-grabbing turbo numbers to find out what each can sustain. The misleading descriptions are almost making me want to grab a couple 25W TRI-R COBs from the garage, rig up a 36V supply, and figure out some close range flood reflector which works. IIRC, TRI-R runs somewhere around like 110 lumens per watt.

Chicken Drumstick · Nov 19, 2020

I've bought loads of stuff over the years from Hank Wang of Intl-Outdoor. He designs and makes the the Noctigon range of lights. Shipping is about 2 weeks to the UK currently with good tracking. Have had 3 packages in the past month from them.

As for Turbo modes, almost all of them do this. But it is often heat that limits the output. Many of the bigger/premium makers like to step down to reduce the heat and to get better runtime stats. The Noctigon uses the Anduril user interface. This is programmable and should allow you to run the light hotter for longer. So it is how much heat you can bear really.

Astrolux also offer some good lights at good prices too, you might want to check them out. You can find them on Banggood. I have a load of their lights and mostly happy with them. Especially for the price.

If you really wanted 21700 and USB C the Noctigon K1 supports both of these. It is more of a thrower than flooder. But you can option it with the SBT90 LED. In this setup it'll still throw really well, but the beam will be big and really bright spill beam. They are $140.

gifthunter · Nov 19, 2020

Definitely thinking about what I can do to mitigate the heat, drawing on some things I've custom built on LED general illumination, light panels, and custom computer cooling. Fortunately most of the better flashlights are sensing temperature not time, so thermal mitigation can help if it can be done.

Nevertheless, it is really frustrating when I have to dig and dig through website marketing just to figure out what's the honest number I can rely on for steady-state operation. I've had to eliminate several interesting possibilities because manufacturers couldn't promise enough steady-state output, even though user reviews suggested they were being conservative in their numbers. As much ground, bushes, rocks, and other landscaping as there is to sweep during breeding season, it's definitely not a 3 minute job. The turbo mode might as well not exist for this use case.

I think I asked the wrong question starting out.

Without good light and good eyes a toad between the size of a small apple and a grapefruit is practically indistinguishable from rock, mulch, or debris. Being cold blooded, FLIR is of no help. Neither are my neighbors, who don't do a darn thing. They won't even hire a trapper. Immediately next door, the mindset is no dog, no care, as the toads hop freely across the property line and kill dogs two doors down (mine so far are safe).

The toads are nocturnal and like to move around so sweeping large areas quickly then doing it again is faster and catches more than a more thorough once through. My beam will never extend more than 100 feet. Most of the time it will never go past 50.

Q: What might be a good numerical estimate for the minimum light output which I won't regret buying? My visual acuity (with contacts) is good, but my night vision isn't great. What might be a good starting point for a steady-state output number that definitely makes things stand out?

I don't need a torch of god, but I do like 1000 lumens on an indoor pistol light for a reason.

Did a little more research on Noctagon. Knowing it comes from a maker and not a race-to-the-bottom overseas cloner factory makes me feel better about that price. Good CNC and high fidelity LEDs don't start cheap.....

gottawearshades · Nov 19, 2020

Sofirn Sp36 Anduril with LH351Ds.

A coke can light about the size of an actual can of coke. 3 * 18650, usb recharging. High-CRI, a real workhorse. Around $50-60 I think.

gifthunter · Nov 19, 2020

I'm getting the sense that gear engineered by community enthusiasts is the way to go.....

Has anyone compiled a list of the smaller companies where engineering and quality comes before marketing and cutting corners? It's tough to find the good independents in anything these days, with Amazon so clogged with junk and fake reviews, and Google filled with fake review blogs and big stores which only carry the big brands. It's annoying to see these 35% and 50% flash sales and loyalty programs. That just tells me that last week's customers got taken to the cleaners. I could be next.

I'd rather give my money to the independent guy who made something better because nobody else had done it. I don't know what else might be out there or how to go about finding the trustworthy smaller companies. Who knows, I might even find a killer-but-neglected feature like a variable brightness ring on a high output light. Repeated button presses are a nuisance and just don't flow seamlessly when sweeping. That's a killer feature for me because I can get all the light I ever need while still having responsive, fine-grained control over brightness to keep temps down when I don't need it all.

Lemurian · Nov 20, 2020

The Malkoff 18650 Wildcat, at 4000K, 90 cri, and initially 900 lumens (down to 475 after an hour) might work out well. It has plenty of spread/spill and is built like a tank.

LeanBurn · Nov 20, 2020

It's too bad you can't construct a pickup device like a golf ball picker and just drive over your lawn and scoop them up.

lumen aeternum · Nov 21, 2020

To block spill bouncing off green foliage, consider wearing colored glasses that will block green. Experiment with other filter colors.
Someone mentioned UV; but red, green, blue or even orange etc might reflect better or be absorbed better, by the toad's skin. See a lump under white light, switch to colored light.

Sounds like the State herpetologist needs to conduct experiments along these lines to help toad hunters.

And buy a UV toad trap!

hsa · Nov 21, 2020

@gifthunter. Where are these things at? I am out at night a lot with my dog and she is curious. Check out this light for the control you may like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_v7P7aW6js

bigburly912 · Nov 21, 2020

They've overrun parts of Florida

hsa · Nov 21, 2020

Thank you. That just seems awful. I would be worried too.

Poppy · Nov 21, 2020

Seems to me that it is a two point program/issue.
1. locate them
2. identify them

Would night vision/ thermal goggles help to locate them, regardless of camo?

Then a broad spot flood NW light may be the way to go for identification.

And as a follow up to this:

LeanBurn said:
It's too bad you can't construct a pickup device like a golf ball picker and just drive over your lawn and scoop them up.

LOL... I wonder if mowing your lawn at night with a bagger would work to scoop them up? Maybe even decapitate them on the way to the bagger.

aznsx · Nov 21, 2020

Poppy said:
LOL... I wonder if mowing your lawn at night with a bagger would work to scoop them up? Maybe even decapitate them on the way to the bagger.

Now that would be some real justice

Would sorta take that ol' Clint "get offa my lawn" line to a whole new level, huh?

vadimax · Nov 23, 2020

Poppy said:
Would night vision/ thermal goggles help to locate them, regardless of camo?

Night vision (light amplifiers) are usually of lower resolution which is no way helps to detect poorly visible objects.

Thermal vision does help with warm blooded creatures. Those are cold blooded, i.e. their body temperature is equal to the ambient one. They will be invisible.

Light to sweep property for invasive, toxic, well-camouflaged toads

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