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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| UPDATE: Birds May Be Behind Exploding German Toads |
| 2005-04-28 |
| EFL:Could it be birds, Quince? That's it, Sam! Birds, Sam! Birds! BERLIN - Why are toads puffing up and spontaneously exploding in northern Europe? It began in a posh German neighborhood and has spread across the border into Denmark. It's left onlookers baffled, but one German scientist studying the splattered amphibian remains now has a theory: Hungry crows may be pecking out their livers. Eeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwww! The crows are clever," said Frank Mutschmann, a Berlin veterinarian who collected and tested specimens at the Hamburg pond. "They learn quickly from watching other crows how to get the livers." I believe it involves ripping the shit out of the toads.They're smart like that... So far, more than 1,000 toad corpses have been found at a pond in Hamburg and in Denmark. But the pond water in Hamburg has been tested, and its quality is no better or worse than elsewhere in the city. The remains have been checked for a virus or bacteria, but none has been found. 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. Sounds like it works real well... 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. Hmmmmmmmm. The liver's missing. Go ask those crows over there if they know anything about this... 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."It's horrible," biologist Heidi Mayerhoefer was quoted as telling the Hamburger Morgenpost daily."The toads burst, the entrails slide out. But the animal isn't immediately dead — they keep struggling for several minutes." Next on Fox; "When Toads Explode". 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. The "Take One For The Team" theory... Could hungry crows be a reasonable answer? "We haven't seen that. It might be, it might not be," said institute spokeswoman Janne Kloepper. "It's speculation," until it's observed, she said. Muldoon, get the Toad Squad on stakeout. Pronto. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #4 "It's supper time and the liver's greasy". Sung to the tune "It's summer time and the livin's easy". |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2005-04-28 7:52:47 PM |
| #3 Hummm..... |
| Posted by: Suzzane Flushete 2005-04-28 5:51:44 PM |
| #2 Me toooooooooooo! |
| Posted by: P. Finch 2005-04-28 5:50:46 PM |
| #1 I'm so very tired of this olde joikes. |
| Posted by: W, Piegon 2005-04-28 5:50:02 PM |