Explanation for 'exploding toads' April 29, 2005 From: Agence France-Presse
TOADS have been exploding by the hundred in Germany because they are being attacked by crows, a veterinary surgeon said.
Animal welfare workers and veterinarians had reported that as many as 1,000 toads had swelled to bursting point and exploded in recent days, propelling their entrails up to a metre into the air.
Now a veterinary surgeon, Frank Mutschmann, who has examined the remains of the toads, said they had been pierced with a single peck by crows trying to eat their livers.
This in turn caused the toads to explode.
"The toads swell up as a form of self-defence. But when their livers are taken away and their stomachs are punctured, their blood vessels explode, their lungs collapse and the other organs come out," Mutschmann said.
"Crows are intelligent animals. They learn very quickly how to eat the toads' livers," he said, adding that between three and five crows could kill around 100 toads.
So many toads have died in a lake in the Altona district of Hamburg that it has been dubbed "the pond of death".
