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.
posted
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.
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posted
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...
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posted
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. Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
I hear that several have blown up in the water all at once. It results in a really terrible toadal wave.
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posted
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.
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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.
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posted
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? Posts: 3295 | Registered: Jun 2004
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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.
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.
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? Posts: 4344 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
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
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.
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posted
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. Posts: 4344 | Registered: Mar 2003
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