Exploding toads baffle experts

Australian Broadcasting ^ | 2005-04-24 | AFP

[Lessismore]

Hundreds of toads have met an unexplained, explosive demise in Germany in recent days, it was reported on Saturday.

According to reports from animal welfare workers and veterinarians as many as a thousand of the amphibians have perished after their bodies swelled to bursting point and their entrails were propelled for up to a metre.

It is like "a science fiction film", according to Werner Smolnik of a nature protection society in the northern city of Hamburg, where the phenomenon of the exploding toad has been observed.

"You see the animals crawling on the ground, swelling and then exploding," he said.

He said the bodies of the toads expanded to three-and-a-half times their normal size.

"I have never seen such a thing," said veterinarian Otto Horst.

So bad has the death toll been that the lake in the Altona district of Hamburg has been dubbed "the pond of death".

Access to it has been sealed off and every night a biologist visits it between 2:00am and 3:00am, which appears to be peak time for batrachians to go bang.

Explanations include an unknown virus, a fungus that has infected the water, or crows, which in an echo of the Alfred Hitchcock movie The Birds, attack the toads, literally scaring them to death.

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[woofie]

Coming soon to a theatre near you

[drlevy88]

ribbi--BOOM!

[LibFreeOrDie]

Posted here earlier:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1389859/posts

[FReepaholic]

Bad case of swamp gas.

[org.whodat]

ribbi--BOOM!

And the answer is What happens to a toad when he has gas and can't fart?????

[Mongeaux]

The weirdest and sickest things always happen in either Germany or Florida.

[Bouchart]

Wannabe terrorist toads?

[woofie]

[time4good]

AAGGG - ROTFLMBO!!!!!!!!

[politicalwit]

"Wannabe terrorist toads?"

TSA nightmare!!!!!

When Terror Toads Attack!!

[stboz]

You don't suppose somebody has got a hold on one those new-fangled energy-beam weapons......

[harrowup]

Bad case of swamp gas.

Real bad.

[Tom602]

Sort of like mother natures little bottle rockets?

[RichInOC]

WHAT HAPPEN?

[SamAdams76]

Is this what happened to Michael Moore on election night?

[Fiddlstix]

Did the toads recently convert to islam? Have they now become suicide bomber toads?
Inquiring minds want to know.

[Kay Syrah]

bufotine

[woofie]

"Its a beautiful evening,lets sit on the porch tonight Mother an watch the toads explode"

[harrowup]

Thanks; I really needed that to make my day...I knew when I read this story that there was some guy it reminded me of....I have it copied for fun on Monday.

[null and void]

Ping!

(I guess???)

[streetpreacher]

Beavis and Butthead Alert?

[Old Professer]

Or, the toads may have been drinking calcium-rich water and ingesting a bit of acid around the same time and, a few minutes later, good old CO2 bubbles up, or out, as you may.

[Theresawithanh]

LOL! Who set us up the toad?

[Tom602]

All your toad farts ARE belong to us......

[SamAdams76]

Perhaps it's a toad Jihad protesting against the German pope.

[Tom602]

Some toads just don't get it.

They should know better than to eat Pop-Rocks and then drink a can of soda.

[punster]

What a novel way for them to croak!

[FDNYRHEROES]

OK, I didn't get the memo, but something tells me that this toad thing is seriesly hugh and will impact women and minorities the hardest...Ping me if I'm proven wrong...

[Yasotay]

Alka-Seltzer for toads

[BenLurkin]

Sounds like a from of the black death.

[LdSentinal]

Please explode.

[Fam4Bush]

"Sounds like a from of the black death."

How many times do I have to tell you, don't use two prepositions together...

[Fam4Bush]

Exploding toads........Again....

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

yeast infections?

[taxesareforever]

The casino goes to the swamp and takes bets on which is the next toad to blow up.

[NoCmpromiz]

ping

Ummm... were you and your brother here???

Maybe the toads have been ingesting the contents of a discarded, unused MRE heater. All the necessary elements - closed container (a.k.a. toad), MRE secret heater crystals, water (from pond). Hoppity hoppity, hoppiBOOM....
follower by the sound of running footsteps and maniacal laughter...

[Wilhelm Tell]

Schadenfrosch?

[righttackle44]

"What a novel way for them to croak!"

I hate puns, but this one's a beaut.

[Husker24]

Did sombody throw some Alcoseltzer into the pond?

[ApplegateRanch]

The weirdest and sickest things always happen in either Germany or Florida.

And the dumbest things take place in Romania.

[ApplegateRanch]

Somebody feeding them Pop-Tarts?

[Rabble]

Any guesses on when Ted Kennedy will burst? This toad is already about three times normal size. Perhaps his next constipation will be his last!

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

Ah yes, I know the feeling, I still remember from almost 50 years ago those gaseous wiener schnitzel and warm beer nights in Germany.

[blackbart.223]

Did you have to post that picture? It made me sick.

[blackbart.223]

"This toad is already about three times normal size."

Don't insult toads by comparing them with Teddy.

[LibWhacker]

[Busywhiskers]

Islamic toads attempting to take out some infidel Germans?

Think about it.

[spetznaz]

Gotta read this PING.

[Thinkin' Gal]

According to reports from animal welfare workers and veterinarians as many as a thousand of the amphibians have perished after their bodies swelled to bursting point and their entrails were propelled for up to a metre.

Exodus 8:4 And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.

Anyway, the Germans should tell these French tourists to lay off the sauerkraut and go home.