NAPLES Fla. — A Naples man is hunting down cane toads in his backyard and then euthanizing them.

Lee Smith said he caught 68 cane toads next to the pond in his backyard on Monday night.

Smith wears a headlamp to find toads. He said it makes their eyes light up. When he spots a toad, he’ll pick it up with a long metal stick, placing it in a mesh bag.

When he finished filling up the mesh bag with frogs, he said he would execute them. He uses the refrigerator to numb the frogs before throwing them to the dumpster.

Smith said, “I hate to kill anything; they just don’t belong here, and you can’t just ship them back to Central America.”

The FWC encourages people who find cane toads to kill them humanely. The toads are poisonous and can kill dogs.

Dave Feenan works at the Humane Society of Naples. He said, “A full-grown toad can kill a full-grown dog within half an hour.” “They emit a toxin when a dog bites it or licks it, and it’s very dangerous.”

Feenan said, “Those toxins are poison, so that they can be just as dangerous to a human. Hopefully, a human would never bite a toad or attack a toad or swallow a toad, but sure, those toxins are just as dangerous as they are to humans and animals.”

Lee Smith said he started hunting down cane toads about two years ago.

Smith said, “We were watching tv one night, and my wife went to bed, and about 15 minutes later, she came out and said I can’t sleep because the cane toads are so loud.” “I thought, well, I’m just gonna go out there and see if I can catch ‘em.”

It only takes him 15 minutes to catch about 30 or 40 toads. He does it about four nights a week.

“It’s been like a challenge.” “Two years ago, I got over 700; last year, I caught over a 1000,” said smith.

Smith’s wife said he enjoys doing this, and the community appreciates it.

Denise Smith said, “It’s nice because I can sleep at night, so I don’t have to hear them.” “The community really appreciates it; we hear a lot of thank you’s, so he’s doing a good thing.”