Exploding toads in Germany. Scientists baffled.

[MikeKAY]

Thousands of the amphibians have died in recent days in a pond in Hamburg's Altona district, with their bodies swelling to bursting point.

The toads' entrails are propelled for up to a metre (3.2ft), in scenes that have been likened to science fiction.

Scientists are baffled. Possible explanations include a unknown virus or a fungus in the pond.

"You see the animals crawling on the ground, swelling and then exploding," German conservationist Werner Smolnik told AFP news agency.

The bodies of the toads expanded to three and a half times their normal size, he said.

"I have never seen such a thing," AFP quotes veterinarian Otto Horst as saying. The site - which has been dubbed "the pond of death" - has been closed to the public.

The exploding toads have also crossed the border north into Denmark, according to Danish Radio.

It reported that a large number of toads that live in a pond near Laasby in central Jutland have started to suffer the same fate as the German amphibians.

The toads crawl onto the land, swell up and explode in the middle of the night, the radio said.

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Source. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4486247.stm)

O_o

[Alumette]

Oh yeah, I remember reading this this morning (or was it yesterday?)

I feel bad for the toads, but I can't help but laugh when I think about it. It's like something out of a film that should be on MST3K.

I sense an idea for an alt coming on...

[MikeKAY]

Ya, I don't know wether to be desturbed or to laugh my ass off, I guess O_o wil have to suffice.

Sounded like something our of the Hitchhiker books to me.

[Kinetix]

I sense an idea for an alt coming on...


toady spines scrapper?

boom!

[8 Ball]

Wow..now I feel bad, my Fiance was telling me about this today and I called bullsh*t on her :P.

[BvS]

I refuse to laugh at this








very much longer.

[Noble]

The idea was funny to me, but its also something of a concern. For the frogs to be exploding like that something must be really out of balance in their ecosystem. Whether someone dumped something into the water in those areas that they shouldn't have, or something else that I can't think of yet. The other odd thing is that its not just happening at one location, its happening in a couple differet ones. While it seems like a small thing, I'm sure a lot of the scientists who specialize in biology and or organic chemistry are a little concerned. Sure they are curious too, probably even excited about this new prospective research idea.

It just makes me wonder.

[Tsarmina]

It's always the frogs that suffer. Bad enough that pollution is causing deformities... frogs with 3 back legs, malformaties and such. Now they go boom. It rather scares me. I hope they figure it out soon. It may start effecting other things next. :(


(but the thought of walking along the pond on a balmy evening, listening to the frogs call and then *SLOOSH* frog guts all over :barf: ... yeah I did laugh some)

[Randomus]

They could use this kind of behaviour from toads in Australia, I tell you what.

[Randomus]

The current theory is crows.

Those clever buggers have figured out how to, with surgical precision, remove a toad's liver. The toad puffs up-- that's their main defense, puffing up-- but since there's a hole in their body and their liver is gone, blood vessels rupture and they explode.

Crows. Man.