They’ve got a mystery critter over in Germany . . . and Denmark.
No, it’s not a mystery critter like a chupacabra or a sea monster for which there are few if any remains.
In fact, there are all too many remains of this critter.
Why?
The mystery critter is an exploding toad.
It seems that the toads in certain lakes over yonder are swelling up to three times their normal size and then . . . popping.
There’s no settled explanation for this phenomenon, though they’ve been trying to figure it out.
EXCERPT:
More than 1,000 toads have puffed up and exploded in a Hamburg pond in recent weeks, and scientists still have no explanation for what’s causing the combustion, an official said Wednesday. Both the pond’s water and body parts of the toads have been tested, but scientists have been unable to find a bacteria or virus that would cause the toads to swell up and pop, said Janne Kloepper, of the Hamburg-based Institute for Hygiene and the Environment.
"It’s absolutely strange,” she said. "We have a really unique story here in Hamburg. This phenomenon really doesn’t seem to have appeared anywhere before.”
Now, there are some theories. F’rinstance,
ONE GUY THINKS THAT CROWS ARE PECKING OUT THEIR LIVERS,
but nobody’s seen that happen so it’s just a conjecture.
No word on whether al-Qa’eda is trying to harness the power of the exploding toad.
(Poor little toads!)
It’s obvious.
Step 1: German child, with packet of Pop Rocks candy (remember those?), plays near pond, leaving opened packet in a dry, sheltered spot
Step 2: Child is called home unexpectedly; leaves candy.
Step 3: Toads, sunning themselves nearby, discover new taste sensation — beats flies anyday.
Step 4: After a few Pop Rocks, toads leap into water.
Step 5: Kablooey.
Mystery solved.
Well…that’s just weird. Obviously a sign of the apocylpse, exploding animals.
Duh.
Cows stomachs have been known to “explode” (actually rupture) after the cows got into a patch of clover. There are sugars in the clover that are indigestible to the cow, and they ferment in the digestive tract in much the same way that beans do to us.
Well, it’s true!
If the cow eats too much clover it will not be able to handle all the excess gas and -PLOOEY!- a real Maalox moment!
You can learn some really useful stuff in FFA.
Perhaps the pond contains some kind of food that the toads really like, but can’t handle. I understand that cows really have a jones for clover.
this happened to my fish.
That reminds me of some PBS-type drama I saw once, set in rural England, in which the sheep ate too much of the wrong something-or-other. The sheep ended up on their sides, inflated, and the shepherd/vet/whoever had to actually poke them in the side with a sharp stick to “deflate” them.
Same phenomenon, I guess?
I’m guessing that’s an episode of All Creatures Great And Small.
I loved “All Creatures…”, terrific cast.
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