By Christmas, some will be wearing Santa hats.
asserted
some → wear → hats
The former accountant runs an unusual souvenir business, which sees him doing everything from sandblasting and whitening crocodile skulls to gutting and stuffing dead toads.
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him → run → toads
It's a far cry from the life he envisioned for himself when he left Malaysia to study accounting in Australia 16 years ago.
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he → envision → Australia
"When I grew up it was all about the rat race," he said.
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he → grow → race
"There was no way this was part of my five or 10-year plan, that's for sure."
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that → be → plan
The decision to leave it all behind came to Mr Selvaratnam after working full time as an accountant in Melbourne.
"I was doing that corporate life, 9 to 5, stuck in the office, and I just felt like there was more to life," he said.
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he → leave → life
Word of Mr Selvaratnam's dilemma got out to his Darwin-based aunt, who offered an unexpected solution.
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who → get → solution
For decades she had been selling curries at the iconic Mindil Markets and a neighbouring stall had put his Territory souvenir business up for sale.
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stall → sell → sale
Mr Selvaratnam was initially purchasing the toads from a taxidermist in Queensland, but when the supplier decided to retire, he was left with two choices — give up the business or take matters into his own hands.
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he → purchase → hands
"Before I started doing this, I could barely pick a toad up," he said.
uncertain
he → start → toad
"But I thought, we have plenty of toads in the Territory, an abundance of supply, so I'll just make them myself.
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I → think → them
I went [to Townsville] and put myself through a two-day bootcamp of learning how to do it."
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I → go → it
It was through gritted teeth and pinched nostrils that Mr Selvaratnam learnt to gut, tan, stuff and dry the warty pests before painting them with varnish to make them "look pretty".
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them → grit → varnish
Armed with his new-found knowledge, a head torch and gloves, Mr Selvaratnam began scouring golf courses and gardens hunting the pests.
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Selvaratnam → arm → pests
Until he hit the jackpot.
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he → hit → jackpot
Toad busters
Community 'toad busts', like the one held recently at the Territory Wildlife Park, can provide hundreds of dead toads to Mr Selvaratnam in a single night without him having to lift a finger.
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him → hold → finger
Territory Wildlife Park ranger Luke Hare says toad busts aim to reduce the numbers of the pests while also educating the community of their dangers.
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busts → say → dangers
"Cane toads produce significant risk to a lot of our native species," he said.
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he → produce → species
"A lot of our natives can't tolerate the toxins cane toads have, so when they eat the cane toad, or try to eat them, often it will kill them.
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it → tolerate → them
Mr Hare estimates that there could be hundreds of thousands of cane toads running rampant in the wildlife park on Darwin's outskirts.
uncertain
Hare → estimate → outskirts
For Mr Selvaratnam, the park's latest haul of 531 toads has come just in time for his end-of-year Christmas orders.
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haul → come → orders
Soon, newly minted santa hat-clad critters will join their rum-drinking, ukulele-playing and occasionally X-rated counterparts.
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critters → mint → counterparts
A second life
But cane toads aren't the only unwanted creatures finding a second life in Mr Selvaratnam's backyard.
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toads → find → backyard
"I started with the toads and the skulls came about a year after that," he said.
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he → start → that
Mr Selvaratnam had initially been buying the skulls from a supplier, but in a case of deja vu, retirement once again threatened his supply chain.
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retirement → buy → chain
"This time I didn't go down to Queensland to learn, I just got him on the phone and he ran me through it, and from then, on experimentation, really," he said.
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he → go → experimentation
The skulls are a by-product from crocodile farms in the Territory, and along with croc teeth, buffalo heads and other leather goods, they make up the rest of Mr Selvaratnam's unlikely livelihood.
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they → make → livelihood
He's also recently been experimenting with other forms of taxidermy including the Territory's iconic barramundi.
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He → experiment → barramundi
"It's stuff that is quite different, things that people normally just throw away, there's no other use for heads and carcasses," he said.
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he → throw → heads
"So being able to give them a second life, it's nice."
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it → give → life
The Aporia