A family walking out for a walk in Dartmoor were in for a shock when they came across a dead toad that had been turned inside out.
Jan Freedman, curator of natural history at The Box, came across the ‘wildlife crime scene’ in the Venford Reservoir.
Mr Freedman tweeted an image of the toad - apologies in advance if you’re reading this while eating your lunch!
He said: “Sorry for the gross picture. This was a toad - but it was turned inside out.
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“I’ve never seen anything like it before - the result of some kind of predator?”
Several people have replied to the tweet with suggestions of how the toad ended up inside out.
Jack Ashby, museum manager at the University Museum of Zoology in Cambridge, suggested a crow could be responsible.
He said: “In Australia we see toads flipped over and eaten from the belly up by crows, to avoid the toxic skin.”
However, Mr Freedman pointed out that it seems unlikely a crow could turn a toad inside out.
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Speaking to Live Science , Mr Ashby revealed that after further examination of the photo, he believes an otter is responsible.
He said: “This requires a serious amount of force, presumably by an animal holding the carcass in its paws and pulling the leg out of its skin by its teeth. It’s a lot easier to imagine an otter doing this than a bird.”
However, until this type of attack happens again - if it does at all - the predator responsible remains a mystery.
