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toads were thought to carry a jewel in their heads that changed colour to warn of poison and protect against evil

Wahhh?! 😦

Toadstone

The toadstone, also known as bufonite (from Latin bufo, “toad”) and crapaud-stone, is a mythical stone or gem that was thought to be found in the head of a toad. It was supposed to be an antidote to poison and in this it is like batrachite, supposedly formed in the heads of frogs. Toadstones were actually the button-like fossilised teeth of Scheenstia (previously Lepidotes), an extinct genus of ray-finned fish from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. They appeared to be “stones that are perfect in form” and were set by European jewellers into magical rings and amulets from Medieval times until the 18th century.

Fossilized Scheenstia jawbone with “toadstones”

From ancient times people associated the fossils with jewels that were set inside the heads of toads. The toad has poison glands in its skin, so it was naturally assumed that they carried their own antidote and that this took the form of a magical stone. They were first recorded by Pliny the Elder in the first century.

Like the fossilised shark teeth known as tonguestones, toadstones were thought to be antidotes for poison and were also used to treat epilepsy.[1] As early as the 14th century, people began to adorn jewelry with toadstones for their magical abilities. In their folklore, a toadstone was required to be removed from an old toad while the creature was still alive. 17th century naturalist Edward Topsell wrote that this could be done by setting the toad on a piece of red cloth.

The true toadstone was taken by contemporary jewellers to be no bigger than the nail of a hand and they varied in colour from a whitish brown through green to black, depending on where they were buried. They were supposedly most effective against poison when worn against the skin, on which occasion they were thought to heat up, sweat and change colour. If a person were bitten by a venomous creature a toadstone would be touched against the affected part to effect a cure. Alternatively Johannes de Cuba, in his book Gart der Gesundheit of 1485, claimed that toadstone would help with kidney disease and earthly happiness.

Polished Jurassic toadstones

I help where I can!

Link1 is broken down by zip code and the second lists the cities where they are. I just picked on at random since I have no clue where you are. 🙂

I was surprised when you said there was funding, since to my knowledge no rescue gets public funds anywhere. The one I picked randomly did talk about some type federal volunteer internship, so it does sound like there is some type of public partnership there, but I don’t want to give advice based on translations.

It would be exciting if you got to find something. I lucked out having a place about 20 minutes from me. We have a lot of people coming from about an hour away.

That is excellent what you are doing! Anything helps so much.

I don’t know how things work in Germany, but I took a quick look at the references in the c/superbowl sidebar and we have 2 lists of rescues in Germany.

Link1 Link2

I pulled up a random one and checked their “Support” menu and saw volunteering right away.

Ehrenamtliche Mitarbeit Insbesondere am Wochenende fehlt es an Unterstützung in der Tierpflege. Selbst, wenn jemand nur ein bis zwei Stunden Zeit hat, ist das eine große Hilfe. Vorkenntnisse sind dabei nicht nötig. Zu den möglichen Aufgaben zählt neben dem Füttern von Jungtieren beispielsweise auch das Säubern der Volieren. Außerdem werden handwerklich begabte Helfende gesucht, die Reparaturen vornehmen können, Fahrdienste übernehmen oder die Futterwiese mähen.

Wer sich ehrenamtlich engagieren möchte, erreicht uns telefonisch unter [email protected]. Bitte eine Nachricht auf dem Anrufbeantworter hinterlassen, damit wir uns zurückmelden können.

(Translated)

Volunteer work Especially on weekends, there is a lack of support in animal care. Even if someone only has one or two hours to spare, it’s a great help. Previous knowledge is not necessary. In addition to feeding young animals, the possible tasks include, for example, cleaning the aviaries. In addition, talented helpers are needed who can carry out repairs, take over driving services or mow the feed meadow.

If you would like to volunteer, you can reach us by phone at [email protected]. Please leave a message on the answering machine so that we can get back to you.

If anyone is ever interested in volunteering, I can answer many of your questions! Most things you’d want to do have a very low barrier of entry.

I’m glad you all still enjoy what I share! I had assumed you all would have been bored ages ago. 😄

No worries! The focus is on the animals, not me anyway. 😉

Everyone’s support and encouragement has meant a lot. If I wouldn’t have become a poster here, I likely never would have pursued working with owls, but thanks to you all, I worked with a Screech Owl and 3 Great Horns yesterday, along with 4 Red-tailed Hawks, 2 Red Shouldered Hawks, and a bunch of opossums and squirrels.

You guys listening to me and encouraging me to keep sharing gave me the push to go and volunteer, and my life has been so much richer getting to work with so many amazing animals and fellow animal rescuers.

Lemmy has given to me, I give to Lemmy! 🦉