Reply #7: MSNBC - Hungry crows may be behind exploding toads [View All]

[Dover]

Hungry crows may be behind exploding toads
More than 1,000 creatures have puffed up and popped



Florian Quand / AP
The pond in Hamburg where the corpses have been found has been tested, but its quality is no better or worse than elsewhere in the city.
The Associated Press
Updated: 4:10 p.m. ET April 28, 2005BERLIN - What’s making toads puff up and explode in northern Europe? More than 1,000 toad corpses have been found at a pond in an upscale neighborhood in Hamburg and over the border in Denmark after bloating and bursting.

It’s left onlookers baffled. The pond water in Hamburg has been tested, but its quality is no better or worse than elsewhere in the city. The toad remains have been checked for a virus or bacterium, but none has been found.

One German scientist studying the splattered amphibian remains has a theory: Hungry crows are pecking out their livers.

“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.”..cont'd

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7654561/