Mystery of the exploding toads - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

TwitchKitty · #1 04-25-2005, 03:02 PM

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1370116.html?menu=news.quirkies

Quote:

Visitors to Hamburg parks are being warned to watch out for exploding toads.

Several thousand toads in the city's parks have so far mysteriously spontaneously exploded, sending entrails and toad body parts over a wide area.

Vets and animal welfare workers said the mystery has decimated the city's toad population as well as the unpleasant problem of leaving toad parts scattered around parks and open spaces.

Eyewitnesses say the toads swell up to three and a half times their normal size before suddenly exploding - sending entrails flying metres into the air.

Nature protection worker Werner Smolnik from Hamburg said over the last four days at least a thousand toads had died in this manner in scenes reminiscent of a science fiction film.

He said: "It is a complete mystery, we have a lot of ideas which we are following up, but at the moment we haven't the faintest idea if any of them are correct.

Flash Gordon · #2 04-25-2005, 04:00 PM

I have heard whales and dolphins beach themselves to death, but I have never heard of toads kill themselves this way. Strange occurance!

boneheaddoctor · #3 04-25-2005, 04:01 PM

Toads can't fart.........they ate too much sauerkraut and beer. Result is Boom......been telling my wife for years that would happen if I puckered the sphincter long enough.

cmac2012 · #4 04-25-2005, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boneheaddoctor

Toads can't fart.........they ate too much sauerkraut and beer. Result is Boom......been telling my wife for years that would happen if I puckered the sphincter long enough.

Keep trying, you'll pull it off...

cmac2012 · #5 04-25-2005, 05:15 PM

This reminds me of a condition I've read about but not seen. Small tornado waterspouts, or maybe big ones I'm not sure, can occaionally suck frogs out of ponds along with gallons and gallons of water and deposit them miles away:

"Look Muriel, it's raining frogs!"

Supposedly a true story.

Carleton Hughes · #6 04-25-2005, 06:31 PM

If these gastrically challenged hoppers have indeed been bursting regularly why are there no images of them? not even any post explosion pics showing the scattered entrails?

Another hoax,like the rhesus monkeys who supposedly administered enemas to themselves.

Botnst · #7 04-13-2006, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmac2012

Keep trying, you'll pull it off...

Wrong side.

Maroon 300D · #8 04-13-2006, 05:02 PM

I think everyone can take some credit for creating some wonderful mental imagery on this thread.

diametricalbenz · #9 04-25-2005, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flash Gordon

I have heard whales and dolphins beach themselves to death, but I have never heard of toads kill themselves this way. Strange occurance!

Whales and dolphins beach themselves for a lot of reasons. They get lost, disoriented, attacked, disease, etc.

I think someone is probably leaving a lot of antacid tablets on the grass and the frogs are eating them

TwitchKitty · #10 04-13-2006, 03:03 PM

Wikipedia explains the exploding toads:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_toad

Quote:

An exploding toad occurs when a crow, hunting for toad liver, attacks a puffed up toad. The phenomenon was first noticed in April 2005 in districts of Hamburg, Germany and near a lake at Låsby, Denmark, dubbed "The Pond of Death." No other animals in the area were exploding.

What differentiates the exploding toads in these incidents from most other exploding animals is that they explode while alive. Exploding whales, for example, are a result of the buildup of gases during the process of decomposition (the obvious exception is when the use of dynamite is involved).

John Doe · #11 04-13-2006, 04:08 PM

Alka-Seltzer might work like it does for sea gulls too

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