● ⬀ ⬈

jackironsides:

ritavonbees:

good news!

Ibis use 'stress and wash' technique to eat poisonous cane toads ABC Gold Coast / By Tom Forbes Posted 12h ago12 hours ago, updated 10h ago photo of an ibis carrying a black toad in its beak Ibis are employing the "stress and wash" method to reduce toxin levels in cane toads.(Supplied: Liam Gill)ALT

why is this so fucking comical

Close up on the Ibis beak and toad with dangling legsALT
"It's quite amusing to watch and it's quite different from other native species and their methods of eating them," she said. "The ibis will pick up cane toads and they will flick them about and stress out the toads. "What this does is it makes the cane toads release toxins from the parotoid gland at the back of their neck, which is their defence mechanism when they're faced with predators. "Then they'll take them down to the creek and wash them." photo of another Ibis carrying a toad ALT
zooming in on this Ibis. it has iridescence around its shouldersALT

yeah you must fucken …. you stress out the toad and then give it a rinse, voilah

Ibis add toxic cane toads to the menu with clever technique to eliminate poison first

Considering the Ibis are indigenous here and the cane toads are not, this is FANTASTIC news. The cane toads are seriously disrupting some fragile ecosystems, and previously there haven’t really been any predators for them (other than e.g. my mother swerving to hit them when we go up north to visit rellos).