See other Science/Tech Articles
Title: Thousands of Amphibians Exploding In Germany, Experts Baffled
Source:
Yahoo! News
URL Source: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm ... afp/20050423/od_afp/germanytoa
Published: Apr 25, 2005
Author: AFP
Post Date: 2005-04-25 21:09:21 by robin
Keywords: Amphibians, Thousands, Exploding
Views: 134
Comments: 13
BERLIN (AFP) - Hundreds of toads have met a bizarre and sinister end in Germany in recent days, it was reported: they exploded. 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 (three feet). 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 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 2:00 and 3:00 am, 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.
On a busy German road, a female toad makes haste, with her male partner clinging on, as a speeding car approaches. Hundreds of toads have met a bizarre and sinister end in Germany in recent days, it was reported: they exploded.(AFP/DPA/File/Markus Farhrer)
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 2.
#2. To: robin (#0)
Just wait until it starts happening to people.
#8. To: Don (#2)
The atmospheric envelope has been pierced one to many times by mans arrogant spacecraft and the atmosphere is leaking out to space. The toads are "canaries in the coal mine" due to their slightly higher internal pressure and inability to equalize because they are wet and not porous. Feeling like it's a bit hard to get a full breath yet??? ;-)
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
Replies to Comment # 2.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 2.