Exploding Toads Baffle Experts

Some great info, and links (even a pic)

en.wikipedia.org...

I had two thoughts:

1- The toads in the pond are at war and one side is introducing a new weapon: The Jihadist Toad. They were brainwashed into believing that they will be getting 72 virgin toads in the great pond in the sky.

2- Maybe now we can change that dumb song - POP GOES THE WEASLE to something a bit more realistic.

Just a thought!

Originally posted by JudahMaccabbi
I had two thoughts:

1- The toads in the pond are at war and one side is introducing a new weapon: The Jihadist Toad. They were brainwashed into believing that they will be getting 72 virgin toads in the great pond in the sky.

2- Maybe now we can change that dumb song - POP GOES THE WEASLE to something a bit more realistic.

It must be the work of evil Iranian scientists. Once they perfect the procedure on the frogs, they can proceed to infect cattle which then would spantaneously detonate when carried on a train. The destruction would be unimaginable.

I might be way off on this because the info I have may be just clever marketing. But I have in front of me a bottle of Gerolsteiner water. Its a carbonated mineral water from Germany. It comes from the volcanic Eifel region. On the lable it says "Bottled with its own natural carbonation". So I'm wondering if frogs are getting into a source of this kind of water. I'm picturing what happens to birds when they eat alka-seltzer.

Originally posted by William One Sac

Originally posted by thematrix
Same thing was on the news here in belgium about toads in belgium.

In Belgium as well? That is a scary thought. Often times when there are changes in the enviornment, frogs and toads show evidence of it first.

You can add Denmark to the list. This have been reported in Denmark too. In Jutland (the west part of Denmark), north of Germany. They usually explode between 2 and 3 am, in the middle of the night. Weird...

Yuo wanna see a toad explode?
Stick a firecracker in its mouth. That's what we did. Cruel is cruel, but we learned our BIO.

Maybe they're eating too much gunpowder...
I can see it now... "exploding frog legs"
In all seriousness, this is too weird. I can't really think of anything that could cause this to happen. Maybe the swamp gas is finally getting to them?

Originally posted by CloudlessKnight

Originally posted by ArchangelOfCool
I think a virus/diesease is making them produce gas inside them....then BANG they explode....wonder if we can get it too....then we can have exploding people....like off starcraft....

Only difference is that if we did get it, we'd just burp or pass gas. Birds and toads and such don't have that ability.

Any creature with an opening can vent internal gases. Cats Dogs Elephants Toads.

Didn't you take your biology class?

Toads have a Mouth and an Anus. Burp or Fart. heh

My guess is that what ever is happening is at a rate so fast that the Toads bodies can't compensate.

Did anyone see the Incredible Hulk last summer? There was a Toad that exploded when subjected to lethal amounts of Gamma radiation.

I heard the german man who first reported this said that he heard a strange sound which didn`t sound like normal toadsound. It sounded like screaming. Like some animal in pain. Then he saw a toad come crawling up from the pond, slowly moving like it was paralysed by something. It crawled up on land where it suddenly expanded up to 3-4 times normal size. Then it went *poff* and *splatter*, and flew about a meter up in the air in the process.

Originally posted by Hellmutt
I heard the german man who first reported this said that he heard a strange sound which didn`t sound like normal toadsound. It sounded like screaming. Like some animal in pain. Then he saw a toad come crawling up from the pond, slowly moving like it was paralysed by something. It crawled up on land where it suddenly expanded up to 3-4 times normal size. Then it went *poff* and *splatter*, and flew about a meter up in the air in the process.

interesting, this definately belongs in this forum. Snakehead fish invaded the u.s. last year, maybe there is something in the pond?

The news here is finally picking up that this is a wide spread phenomenon across northern Europe, not just located to a single pond in Hamburg.

They are also saying that they feel birds are responsible for the exploding toads.

Based on the wounds, Mutschmann said, it appears that 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.

But I cant see why this hasnt occurred before now if this is the case. Also, why would the birds just be going for the toads livers?

Another problem I have with this theory is how come the frogs are inflating after the birds attack them, not during? And I am certain that when this was first reported, they said the toads were for the most part exploding between 2am and 3am. However the article does go on to say that the bird theory is only speculation at this point.

Local environmental workers in Hamburg have described it as a scene out of a horror or science fiction movie, with the bloated frogs agonizing and twitching for several minutes, inflating like a balloon before suddenly bursting.

Birds May Be Behind Exploding German Toads

Sorry Brainiac, not all animals can so easily burp, or vomit when they have gas and bloat in the digestive trac. Horses and sheep can die of colic, if not treated.

Decompression of the stomach can only be done with a nasal gastric tube often referred to as an equine stomach tube. The cecum and large intestine can be relieved of gas, or decompressed, by the use of a horse trochar, or, in its absence, a 5 to 6-inch 14 or 16-gauge needle. -more

They generally get colic from gas produced by something they have eaten, or a blockage from food or some sort of twist in the colon.

So what's up with the toads now? Is the story on them just going to die, like so many exploding toads, and leave us hanging with no conclusion as to what caused this phenomenon?

Originally posted by daboga75
leave us hanging with no conclusion as to what caused this phenomenon?

thats what they do with everything

but thats some pritty strange stuff happining over there in europe

I´ve seen some newsarticles from today still trying to convince us that craws did it. I don´t believe them. No witnesses have reported seeing attacking craws. The craws came after the toads were dead. And craws and toads have been around for along time. I don´t know what it was, but I don´t believe any birds are to blame...

Eyewitness report from Werner Smolnik, a senior figure in Hamburg nature protection who was among the first to witness it.

Theories abound, but German conservationists struggle to find convincing explanation for amphibian Armageddon

"Dozens of toads were crawling out of the water. They were puffed up to almost three times their normal size and making strange screeching noises. Then they just started popping. Some just went 'phut!' and their guts spewed out, but others literally exploded, showering the place with bits of innards. My trousers were covered in toad entrails."

[edit on 2005/5/9 by Hellmutt]

I just searched a bit on the net and can't find any updates on this. Quite frustrating.

hi there all of you...

well, I'm from Belgium and I don't know why but I've read some where a possible explanation... the frogs would all group together to mate, and after the mating proces they need more air and due to a small hole in their lungs this creates the effect of over and underpressure and they explode...

I'll look if I can retrieve the paper...

funny though, kamikaze-frogs

Originally posted by freeform
the frogs would all group together to mate, and after the mating proces they need more air and due to a small hole in their lungs this creates the effect of over and underpressure and they explode...

That`s funny. They have been breeding since the dawn of time. Did they change their sexual behaviour all of a sudden, and this is God`s way of telling them "no-no"?

so just how long has this supposidly been happining do u guys think?

i would certainly like to know what their investigations into this revealed

it would be very interesting to know why all of the sudden

the toads started exploding one day