quote:BERLIN -- More than 1,000 toads have puffed up and exploded in a Hamburg pond in recent weeks, and scientists still have no explanation for what's causing the combustion, an official said Wednesday.
Both the pond's water and body parts of the toads have been tested, but scientists have been unable to find a bacteria or virus that would cause the toads to swell up and pop, said Janne Kloepper, of the Hamburg-based Institute for Hygiene and the Environment.
*Wonders what Frank Edwards would make of it*
[ April 27, 2005, 12:50 PM: Message edited by: sndrake ]
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Gross! And fascinating. Perfect to give my students to read. Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
Evolution. Clearly, the toads are planning a suicide bombing of the frog embassy.
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
Well, either that, or they're taking off in preparation of the bulldozing of the earth.
Anyone look for a farewell message in a fishbowl?
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
No, but a dolphin just waved to me as he flew up into the sky in a space ship.
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
I want to know where you are that you saw a spaceship.
*jealous*
Posted by ssywak (Member # 807) on :
So it's not a combustion-type explosion, eh? Where's the fun in that!?!
My guess: too much salt in the pond. Maybe Potassium. Maybe Parachute.
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
Maybe there's a cadre of militant flies out to start a revolution. They're strapping little teeny C4 packs behind their wings and going kamikaze.
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
I wonder if this has anything to do with a change in temperature.
Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
I know - someone is feeding the toads Pop Rocks and Coca Cola. Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
I know this is probably obvious, but this sounds like a really horrible way to croak.
Posted by 0range7Penguin (Member # 7337) on :
Its the end of the as we know it. Oooh its the end of the world as we know it. And I feel fine oh I feel fine...
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
:::groan::: at sndrake
Posted by scottneb (Member # 676) on :
::almost die laughing:: at sndrake
Posted by no. 6 (Member # 7753) on :
(I thought it might be bread and alka seltzer--oh, wait! That's seagulls!)
Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
C'mon folks, this is toadally serious.
Let's not froget we have to figure out warts happening here that is turning these toads into...
hamburg.
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
I was going to post this! I thought it was really bizarre. It's got to be one of the signs of the Apocalypse. I bet Bush is behind it. Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
Close, Kayla, but no cigar.
It's not Bush, but another sinister figure seeking to arise from the political ashes:
Newt Gingrich, of course. Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
Poor Mr. Lumkin. He had a frog in his throat, and it blew his head right off.
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
Posted by skillery (Member # 6209) on :
Do they turn blue before exploding?
Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
I hear that several have blown up in the water all at once. It results in a really terrible toadal wave.
Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :
Their intestines explode, too -- toadstools everywhere.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
reports of a tempermental pig actress in the vicinity, and sounds that may have been of a martial arts variety have yet to be confirmed.
Posted by littlemissattitude (Member # 4514) on :
quote:*Wonders what Frank Edwards would make of it*
Heh, heh, sndrake...I used to love reading Frank Edwards's books when I was younger.
It is a pretty strange story. I loved the part about the local citizens being warned to stay away from the pond. Wouldn't get me near something like that.
Oh, and something just occurred to me - Charles Fort would have loved this story, too.
Posted by Alcon (Member # 6645) on :
I wonder if there's some sort of chemical contaminant in the water, something the scientists would write off as being harmless, that is somehow reacting with the toads digestive juicies to give off a lot of some kind of gas. Enough that the toad explodes before it can burp or fart? Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
Heh.
A coworker who has visited Germany thought it might have something to do with the toads getting into a bratwurst and beer. He claims the explosive potential for the combination is often understimated by the unwary.
[ April 27, 2005, 10:06 PM: Message edited by: sndrake ]
Posted by Morbo (Member # 5309) on :
quote: Based on the wounds, Mutschmann said, it appears that [to eat the liver] a bird pecks into the toad with its beak between the amphibian's chest and abdominal cavity, and the toad puffs itself up as a natural defense mechanism.
But, because the liver is missing and there's a hole in the toad's body, the blood vessels and lungs burst and the other organs ooze out, he said.
Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
::Grateful for Morbo's curiosity::
The only trouble with this theory is that it's reasonable and subject to being tested through careful observation and testing.
That's why these are kind of fun (from the same article Morbo linked to):
quote:Other theories have been that horses on a nearby track infected them with a virus, or even that the toads are taking the selfless way out — sacrificing themselves by suicide to save others from overpopulation.
I want to know how that last one got to be labeled a theory instead of "wild speculation." Maybe someone saw a bunch of toads sitting around drawing straws and the one who draw the short straw blew up a short time later? Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
No, no, no!
The one with the LONG straw got inflated (via the straw, with the other toads taking turns) shortly thereafter.
Of course, it could simply mean that Aesop was right.
Posted by whiskysunrise (Member # 6819) on :
Is this where my dad is bigger than your dad comes from?
Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
Turns out the jury's still out on the crows, although it's the closest thing they've got to a real theory so far. I found a UK Telegraph article that goes into a lot of detail. Apparently, this only went on while the toads went into the pond to spawn. Now that spawning season is over, there are no more exploding toads.
Turns out, though, that it's only natural they would investigate crows as the culprits. They've had trouble with them before...
quote:Should the bird theory prove true, it will doubtless heighten Hamburg residents' anxieties about the feathered creatures. Two years ago, the city's crows gained notoriety after they mysteriously attacked joggers, Hitchcock-style, in a Hamburg park without warning.
In the worst incident, about 20 crows "dive-bombed" passers-by, sending one woman screaming from the park with birds clinging to her hair, pecking at her face and ears. As with the toads, the cause remains a mystery.
Posted by Vadon (Member # 4561) on :
Ah yes, it's those Budweiser toads that's it! They were advertising the beer for so long that it became cool for toads to drink beer. They drank so much that their livers suddenly swelled and exploded. They knew they shouldn't have had the wild party.
Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
Well, Vadon, according to the friend I mentioned earlier, the beer wouldn't be sufficient all by itself.
Consumption of bratwurst and beer has some pretty unpleasant effects on humans, even explosive, on a smaller scale.
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Evil]](graemlins/evil.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Laugh]](graemlins/laugh.gif)
![[Dont Know]](graemlins/dontknow.gif)
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)