Articulation Station - Population: 0001

Now all cleaned, dried and sorted, I attempted to put this guy back together - this is called articulation. The next step was to find some anatomical diagrams of a cane toad skeleton. Unfortunately I couldn't find any books in my public libraries, and just couldn't wait for a book bought online. The diagrams I found online where not mainly of frogs, although they did help. 

So I decided to wing it and see what I could piece together on my own. 

This was the result.

I managed to get the top of the scull and entire vertebral column assembled and attached them with basic super glue. It was so fun finding which pieces fit together, it was just like a macabre jigsaw puzzle. Cane toads have great sculls, they're like mini dinosaur-dragons. There was a good 6 pieces to the top part alone (as you see below). After the vertebral column and urostyle (the stick-like end bone) things got tricky. The limb bones are all quite similar and the metacarpal and metatarsal (fingers and toes) bones are so frickin' small, it's damn near impossible to figure out what goes where. Guess that's why most taxidermists suggest tackling a larger skeleton (like a cat or dog) first. Thinking I may have to cut my losses on this one. But I'm super happy with what I managed to accomplish.  

Now my toad bone were finally nicely defleshed, I gave them a few 24 hours soaks in a lukewarm water and washing powder solution to degrease them (eliminating the fatty residues, and also the smell). I also did a good sieving before this, to get rid of all the non-bone bits.

And this was my result:

Beautiful, wonderful, lovely bones! I dried them out and bagged them up (according to size).
Next step, articulation! (or at least a good attempt at it)

Defleshing Stage Three - Insect Bone Picking

After hot water maceration didn't produce quite the result I expected, I decided to drain the remains, leave them outside and let nature take its course.
I read that dermestid beetles are one of the best and most thorough way to render a corpse down to a skeleton, and I've always been extremely interested in growing a colony of my own.
Unfortunately, I cant access them locally and I'm a little apprehensive about ordering them online. May have to done a bit more research.
So with no dermestid beetles readily available, I left the bones open to any insects willing to have them.

Fortunately they attracted a bunch of very keen ants.

They cleaned the bones wonderfully! I left them out for around two week undercover and the little critters really polished them up nicely.
A lesson I learnt for next time was to cover the container a little more. Didn't really enjoy picking through the dirt and leaves, and it runs the risk of damaging the bones.

It seemed it wasn't just the black ants that were interested in the bones (or maybe it was just the area they were in).
A colony of green ants were nearby and on the offensive. I couldn't resist capturing the action in a heated battle field. Green ants are an extremely aggressive specices. I know from personal experience that even a single ant, if aggravated, will vow a personal vendetta on you (man or beast) and will not stop until vengeance is done!

Defleshing Stage Two - Hot Water Maceration

After I removed as much meat from the carcass as I could, I decided I would try the hot water maceration technique for removing the rest of flesh.
In a medium sized saucepan (that I don't want to be using for food preparation ever again) I bought water with a few squeezes of dishwashing liquid to the boil and plopped what was left of my toad in.

I found it near impossible to remove the skin and meat from the feet and toes, so I figured the boiling would make it a case of "meat falling off the bone".

Drowning in the bath is a common fear, not just for the drunk.  Also, 

the smell of boiling toad is somewhere between dog food and muddy wet socks

This was not the case. I boiled the bones for about 45mins and nothing much changed. In fact, I actually think the skin got tougher.

Second Attempts - Defleshing Stage One

My second attempt was much more successful. I went out one night to my special cane toad spot but not one toad was to be found. Just as I abandoned hope and got back in my car and turned the headlights on, this guy appeared right in front of me, just sitting there chilling.

And what a fine specimen he is! This is one of the larger toads I've seen

And just so you can fully understand the size of this fella, here's a (very badly shot) clip:

Like last time, I froze him for a couple of days before I took him out to defrost.
This time, to speed up the process, I soaked him in a sink of hot water for about 15mins.
I find it easier to work with them if they're still a little frozen (the guts come out in chunks rather than a whole heap of goop).
The idea is to cut off as much meat as possible. This makes the other stages of defleshing easier.
I used a scalpel, scissors and tweezers. Cane toad skin (and muscles), like the rest of them, are very tough so even my razor sharp scalpel had a bit of difficulty with the first incisions. I ended up using the scissors for most of the job, minding not to snip any bones.
Once I cut down to the bare tendons along the spine, it was fun to pull at one and see a leg or an arm move. You can really see how strong and intricate amphibian legs are.

First Attempts at Hopefully Rendering a Carcass to Skeleton

I went out and bought some garbage bags and rubber gloves. I had a fun time trying to deter the looks I got at the checkout for buying only these two items at 8pm at night.

Gloves are necessary when handling canes toad because they have those nasty poison sacks on their sides, which you'd want to avoid. Catching them wasn't too difficult as cane toads are quite slow moving. I got two just in case I stuffed up on one. 

After quickly stuffing them into a garbage (double bagged, as they tend to jump around a bit), I threw them into my car boot, took them home and put them straight into the freezer. 

This is the most humane way to kill them. Remember that in Australia, cane toads are pests and we are allowed to kill them (in anyway we want aswell), but somehow, call me crazy, I don't find much satisfaction in smashing their faces in with golf clubs or pouring bleach over them. 

I was told it's good practice to leave toads in your freezer for a couple of days before letting them defrost, because they have been noted instances of some "coming back to life" (especially the larger ones) after only one day. Not surprising though, Cane toads are extremely hardy creatures.

After a few days I took them out. I was told to leave them out for a day in the sun to completely defrost, with the risk they would probably smell a bit rank. 

My two toads straight out of the freezer. I think they were trying to conserve body heat. Or they were friends. 

Although I consider my constitution pretty good when it comes to the gross and revolting, if I had the option of not working in fetid stench, I'd certainly take it. So I only left these guy out for about 6 hours in partial shade.

This was the result. Two very fly blown corpses, already starting to fester with maggots, after only a few hours. Looking back I don't see why I thought this wouldn't happen. The climate where I live, especially at that particular time of year, is extremely hot and humid and the perfect party setting for decay.

But I wasn't going to let a few maggots and bad smells dishearten me! So I sucked it up, began to breathe through my mouth only and reached for my scalpel.

After the first incision into one of the bloated, maggot filled guts, I realised it would probably much easier to just start all over again with fresher, sweeter smelling toads. That way I could take my time as well as having normal respiratory function.

Better luck next time!

My Name is Simone

My name is Simone. I like bones and skeletons. I really dig them (no pun intended). I think they are extraordinary and beautiful.


One day no-so-long-ago I decided to finally go out and get me one of my own (that is, other than my own. In this instance, a cane toad). I quickly discovered that it wasn't just the fantastic finished boney prize that I dug. The entire process, from start to finish, I found absolutely fascinating. 
And so a new hobby was born.


This blog will document my experiences and progress as I pursue my new passion. Hopefully I will provide help or advice to any other bone-happy people out there. Or maybe just produce some kind of entertainment to those who are interested in looking at animal carcasses....Either way, I hope you enjoy it.