vaspider:

upthewitchypunx:

polar-solstice:

Ok but:

“There were no bite or scratch marks, so we knew the toads weren’t being attacked by a raccoon or a rat, which would have also eaten the entire toad,” Frank said. “It was clearly the work of crows, which are clever enough to know the toad’s skin is toxic and realize the liver is the only part worth eating.”

“Only once the liver is gone does the toad realize it’s being attacked. It puffs itself up as a natural defence mechanism. But since it doesn’t have a diaphragm or ribs, without the liver there is nothing to hold the rest of its organs in. The lungs stretch out of all proportion and rip; the rest of the organs simply expel themselves.”

According to the documentary, “No one knows how they (the crows) learned where the liver was located. But we do know that toad’s skin is so poisonous that many animals can have a fatal reaction to it. But, the liver is so nutritious, it’s worth working out how to extract it safely.” And that’s exactly what the clever crows did.One of the world’s earliest cases of exploding toads was recorded in Germany in 1968. Similar cases have been observed in Belgium, Denmark and the US. But no other case was as gruesome or grisly as the Hamburg incident. Incidentally, it happened during the toads’ mating season. “They would have noticed something as the crow pecked at them, but it wouldn’t have been particularly painful,” said Frank.

These birds learned poisonous toad anatomy, developed a plan, waited for the right time, taught each other the plan, and executed it so skillfully and stealthily that scientists couldn’t even figure out what was happening.

[Source, but there is one picture of an exploded toad]

This is why I am on team crow. I will keep them from pecking out my eyes or something by all the peanuts I give them.

@crofethr

And people wonder why my little Adriwyn makes friends with the corvids in Divinity’s Reach….