What is it and who did it? (Not for the squeamish)

[The Woodman]

The "fishy" smell is subjective - ever smelt a frogs carcass and guts? Fishy to me!

As Herons swallow their prey whole, any regurgitated remains will be in some state of partial digestion and come up in the whole, not pulled apart and the skeleton carefully divested of its flesh.

OK, Herons can perch on a timber balustrade and would face either up or downstream with their beaks beyond the bounds of depositing it's breakfast neatly on the top of the handrail to the left or right of it's position.

I think this frog has had the flesh pecked from its bones by a corvid.

[thunder]

Originally Posted by The Woodman

The "fishy" smell is subjective - ever smelt a frogs carcass and guts? Fishy to me!

As Herons swallow their prey whole, any regurgitated remains will be in some state of partial digestion and come up in the whole, not pulled apart and the skeleton carefully divested of its flesh.

OK, Herons can perch on a timber balustrade and would face either up or downstream with their beaks beyond the bounds of depositing it's breakfast neatly on the top of the handrail to the left or right of it's position.

I think this frog has had the flesh pecked from its bones by a corvid.

You don't think the flesh could have been digested, but not the bones? And Herons, like many other birds, will 'prematurely' regurgitate if alarmed, when flying off, to lighten the payload one assumes.

henrya

[Jason Green]

WM: I would think it was dropped in-flight or even onto the ground by the said Heron, then maybe placed/relocated onto the balastrade by the crows and pecked at...

[Hedge Witch]

Originally Posted by Jason Green

WM: I would think it was dropped in-flight or even onto the ground by the said Heron, then maybe placed/relocated onto the balastrade by the crows and pecked at...

Eeeeuuuuuwww. YUCK! Mind you, it certainly smelt like this could have happened.

I guess we'll never know

[Venger]

Exploding toad - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Unlikely to be this but an 'interesting' situation.

[Hedge Witch]

Well that certainly is interesting Thanks Venger

[The Woodman]

The words, "Another opinion was that the eye witness accounts were flawed, confused, or mistaken." should be taken as a caveat.

The report states that this phenomenon was happening mostly in the early hours of the morning. At that time it would be dark and crows would be roosting. Even if crows were attacking the toads in the daytime, "at least 1000 toads" is a huge number for crows to attack.

Interesting and bizarre but I don't see it myself.