When Aaron Bingham spotted a rather large frog in his garden a few nights ago, he thought nothing of it - he had seen them in his yard from time to time.
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But when he spotted the same amphibian sitting in the same spot the following evening, his son Austin, 8, noticed it wasn't a garden-variety frog.
"The next night I came out and it was there again and my son said 'That's a cane toad dad'."
Mr Bingham managed to capture the offender, which was far from his usual habitat of Queensland and northern NSW, and contain him in a bucket.
A quick search online on how to identify cane toads and it was clear they had one of the warty creatures on their hands.
"Well, it's a bit of a worry because if they start breeding around this area it's not very good for native wildlife," Mr Bingham said.
Austin was more excited than concerned about the discovery, writing a short story for school.
Mr Bingham has called the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and is waiting to hear back from them. An NPWS spokesman said there were no known colonies of cane toads in the Illawarra.
The NPWS website recommends people who find a cane toad to contact their local NPWS office and "humanely and safely" dispose of it.
Gloves should be worn when holding a cane toad. People should also ensure they are not misidentifying a native frog.
In March last year, the Mercury reported on a cane toad found in the backyard of a Lake Illawarra family.