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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie
USA
4826 Posts |
 Posted - 04/27/2005 : 11:33:11
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7654561/
Anybody got an idea why this might be happening?
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Cthulhu/Asmodeus when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils
Brother Cutlass of Reasoned Discussion |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 13:27:44 [Permalink]
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No, but it is clear evidence of Intelligent Design. On a serious note, from that link we can read:It is a localized outbreak in a single pond in the suburb of Hamburg-Altona. It is not people blowing up frogs with firecrackers or crows picking them to death. The sick frogs have been observed “exploding” by watchers from an environmental groups. They do not actually explode with a big bang. Rather, they blow their body up to large size (normally, a natural reaction when threatened to look more imposing to attackers), but then, the stomach comes out and the animals die.
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The epidemic seem to be over. Healthy-looking toads have been observed at the pond The last quoted line is apparently from an April 12th report, so it would seem that MSNBC is over two weeks late carrying the story. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 13:28:35 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Valiant Dancer
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7654561/
Anybody got an idea why this might be happening?
I've wonder about this, and I'll be damned if I can come up with anything. There's no endoparasite that I know of that could cause it. And it's way past April First.
Amphibians are highly sensitive ro enviornmental changes (they are excellent indicator species, and they're in decline world wide) and as the water seems ok, it could be caused by some sort of airborn crap, but don't ask me what sort.
Dunno. I'm waiting for more info, along with everybody else.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 13:55:48 [Permalink]
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Aren't there certain chemicals that can cause this in frogs? I thought frogs regulate water through their membranous skin. So a chemical that causes then to continuously suck up water without being able to expell it would do the trick. They'd just swell up like water balloons... Could something as simple as salt do this?
Don't really know enough biology or chemistry to speculate beyond that, however.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
| Edited by - H. Humbert on 04/27/2005 14:23:02 |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 15:45:45 [Permalink]
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I followed the Panda's Thumb link to the exploding whale in 1970...
quote:
"For the blast blasted blubber beyond all believable bounds."
...as the reporter said.
A huge dead whale rotting on the beach, stinking so bad none would cut it to pieces. Finally the authorities packed it with a half tonne of dynamite and blew it into smaller pieces that scavengers could more easily take care of.
http://www.hackstadt.com/features/whale/
Make sure to watch the video: http://www.hackstadt.com/features/whale/#evidence |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
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Collateralmurder. |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 17:57:35 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Valiant Dancer
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7654561/
Anybody got an idea why this might be happening?
Darn Val, that was going to be my Evil Pick this week... |
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 04/28/2005 : 12:41:28 [Permalink]
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So the latest theory is that the exploding toads might actually be a result of feasting crows.
quote:
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.
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.
As gruesome as it sounds, it isn't actually that unusual, he said.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
| Edited by - H. Humbert on 04/28/2005 12:58:44 |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 04/28/2005 : 15:26:50 [Permalink]
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Could be.... It's not a bad explanation.
Howsomever, while toads do indeed 'puff' up, some of them extravagently, they simply don't build enough pressure to 'explode.' If they did, every toad-eating snake in the would would be slipping through the grass headless.
On the other hand, we could and probably are reading a bit of "poetic license" on the part of the news media.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 04/28/2005 : 15:32:08 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by filthy
On the other hand, we could and probably are reading a bit of "poetic license" on the part of the news media.
Yeah, chalk it up it poetic license. I don't think anyone's seen a toad explode. Rather, people have come across dead toads that "appear to have exploded." A subtle distinction but an important one nonetheless.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
| Edited by - H. Humbert on 04/28/2005 15:33:34 |
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bloody_peasant
Skeptic Friend
USA
139 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2005 : 06:16:35 [Permalink]
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quote:
If they did, every toad-eating snake in the would would be slipping through the grass headless.
Yeah but what a great predatory deterrant >:-D chomp chomp boom |
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