Cane toad meets water rat ... the rat wins

Source: Australian water rats cut cane toads open with 'surgical precision' to feast on their hearts | World news | The Guardian

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Dr Marissa Parrott, the paper’s co-author, said the scientists began to see dead toads appear, cut open in a “very distinctive” way.

“It was a small area of creek, three to five metres in size, and every day we were finding new dead cane toads,” she said. “Up to five every single morning.

“They were flipping them over, making a very distinctive, almost surgical precision cut down the chest. They would even remove the gallbladder outside the body, which contains toxic bile salts. They knew to remove that bit.”

“In the medium-sized toads, as well as eating the heart and liver, they would strip off the toxic skin from one or both legs and eat the non-toxic thigh muscle.

“They have very strong sharp teeth, very dextrous little hands. They can pick up a fish or a yabby and open them up very quickly and target the areas they like.”

According to the paper, researchers observed 38 toad carcasses, floating in the river or on the creek bank, over 15 days.
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Bob Wilson