The Frogbeasts are coming!!! KABOOM!

[71-hour Ahmed]

Best news story ever....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4486247.stm

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Mystery of German exploding toads

Toads in an area of northern Germany are being killed off by a mysterious disease - they are exploding.

Thousands of the amphibians have died in recent days in a pond in Hamburg's Altona district, with their bodies swelling to bursting point.

The toads' entrails are propelled for up to a metre (3.2ft), in scenes that have been likened to science fiction.

Scientists are baffled. Possible explanations include a unknown virus or a fungus in the pond.

"You see the animals crawling on the ground, swelling and then exploding," German conservationist Werner Smolnik told AFP news agency.

The bodies of the toads expanded to three and a half times their normal size, he said.

"I have never seen such a thing," AFP quotes veterinarian Otto Horst as saying. The site - which has been dubbed "the pond of death" - has been closed to the public.

The exploding toads have also crossed the border north into Denmark, according to Danish Radio.

It reported that a large number of toads that live in a pond near Laasby in central Jutland have started to suffer the same fate as the German amphibians.

The toads crawl onto the land, swell up and explode in the middle of the night, the radio said.

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I imagine this would be quite unpleasant to see...lets hope this is one animal problem that doesn't cross the species barrier!

[Crazed Rabbit]

The toads' entrails are propelled for up to a metre (3.2ft), in scenes that have been likened to science fiction.

That is weird.

Crazed Rabbit

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

Oh man, I need to get one of those and give it to a painfully squeamish girl I know.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Ooh, these toads would make hilariously great pranks.

"Look, I got you a toad, little brother!"

Several days later...

"AHHhhhh! My toad exploded mommy!"

Or take it to school for science and show and tell, then set the cage in back and wait for the fireworks.

Crazed Rabbit

[Kaiser of Arabia]

ahahahahahahahahaha nice ones crazy/bks

[TonkaToys]

The toads' entrails are propelled for up to a metre (3.2ft), in scenes that have been likened to science fiction.

Ha ha ha ha... ROFL... that is great. Where can I get one? Any video yet? ~D




The exploding toads have also crossed the border north into Denmark, according to Danish Radio.

Just like the Germans to invade Denmark! ~D

Where is Frogbeastegg when you need her?

[frogbeastegg]

[pedantic froggy] More like toadbeasts than frogbeasts [/pedantic froggy]

Real life combustible amphibians! Thief fans should be wary …

[Ja'chyra]

Doesn't Bi-carbonate of Soda cause this, I've heard similar stories of exploding seagulls.

[71-hour Ahmed]

Doesn't Bi-carbonate of Soda cause this, I've heard similar stories of exploding seagulls.

Ouch.... now we have to worry about aerial bombardment as well?

The question then would be: why in two places? I can understand toads in a single pond, but you can't realistically claim that two places in two countries are going to both have baking soda in the water in large quantities...Not to mention I'd imagine that tests would show that alkali salt in higher conc.s than normal quite easily, and they haven't found a cause yet.

Also I am not sure that you could do that with the material in question... a while since i thought about acid/base reactions.

[Don Corleone]

[pedantic froggy] More like toadbeasts than frogbeasts [/pedantic froggy]

Real life combustible amphibians! Thief fans should be wary …

Just out of curiousity, m'lady Froggy, where did you get your name from?

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

One of those toads would make the best grenade ever. For shock value alone. :book:

[tibilicus]

I would just love to see one of them explode. Yes i am weird................

[frogbeastegg]

Just out of curiousity, m'lady Froggy, where did you get your name from?
It comes from the game Thief: The Dark Project, an absolute masterpiece that everyone should go and play NOW! There were these little amphibian critters roaming around a few of the levels; they were called frog beasts. Just like the toads in this article they exploded, however they only did so if hit or provoked into defending their territory. They were fast, deadly, and so silly they were funny. Frog beasts hatched from eggs, and occasionally you found those eggs lying around for collection. You could use them rather like grenades, tossing them to the ground near an enemy and hoping the frog beast went after the AI character, not you.

frogbeastegg comes from a desperate lack of inspiration when choosing my first internet screen name. I flicked through my copy of the Thief book in the hopes of gaining an idea, and it opened to the frog beast egg entry. This also explains the lack of a capital at the start of my name; I didn't automatically capitalise it because it didn't feel much like a name back then. It only dawned on me a few months later that there should be a capital. From inauspicious beginnings the name has really taken off and proven both versatile and full of comic potential; I love it.

Hehe, a frog beast could really ruin a master thief's day. There you are, hiding stealthily in the shadows, congratulating yourself on your stunningly stealthy evasion of a patrolling guard when suddenly you hear this trilling, croaking noise. You look down just in time to see a small frog perched at your feet. Then it explodes, killing you instantly. That's what you get for invading its little froggy home unawares.

[Fragony]

Mystery solved, the toads have a defense mechanism against crows that like to eat their liver, they inflate their bodies. When the liver is already gone, the poor creature inflates so much they claboom!

[barocca]

Mystery solved, the toads have a defense mechanism against crows that like to eat their liver, they inflate their bodies. When the liver is already gone, the poor creature inflates so much they claboom!
so the real mystery is what happened to their livers?
:chef: ?? :yes:

[Fragony]

so the real mystery is what happened to their livers?
:chef: ?? :yes:

Crows picked out the liver, they can survive a few days without it. When new crows arive their defense mechanism is still active but the chemestry required to end the process is gone, and they do the jihad-thing. Pretty amazing.

[barocca]

:shocked: :bigcry: no frog's liver sautee :no:

[frogbeastegg]

:shocked: :bigcry: no frog's liver sautee :no:
:eeeek: :resolves to double the size of her royal knight bodyguard whenever barocca is around!:

[Arrowhead]

:eeeek: :resolves to double the size of her royal knight bodyguard whenever barocca is around!:
:laugh4: