[Mike]

Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2005 22:47:52 -0400
Subject: Toads Now Exploding In Denmark, Too

Toads Now Exploding In Denmark, Too
Copenhagen Post
4-28-5
Thousands of toads are exploding in central Denmark and northern
Germany. Environmental factors or an unknown disease may cause the
phenomenon

Biblical plague, extraterrestrial bacteria, or climate changes?
Thousands of toads are exploding across northern Germany and central
Denmark, baffled animal experts report.

Hundreds of toads have begun to explode near a lake in the town of
Låsby in Mid-Jutland. According to reports, the toads climb on to
land, swell to up to three times their normal size, and burst, casting
their innards up to one metre in the air. A similar phenomenon has also
been reported in the German city of Hamburg, where authorities report
that over 1000 toads are dead.

Experts are at a loss to explain what is causing the toads’ painful
deaths, which primarily take place between two and three a.m.
‘It’s like a science fiction film,’ said Werner Smolnik, a
representative for a Hamburg animal welfare organisation. ‘You can see
the animals crawling around on the ground, then they swell up, and
finally they burst.’

Frank Jensen, curator of Denmark’s Museum of Natural History, said to
Denmark’s TV2 that the mysterious deaths likely had an earthly
explanation, namely toxins found in fertilisers or changes in the ozone
layer.

The Danish Meteorological Institute warned yesterday of increased ozone
radiation reaching Denmark. Amphibians such as toads and frogs are known
to be sensitive to slight environmental changes.

While German authorities surmise that the gruesome deaths are caused by
bacterial or viral infection, they were still confounded by the
incident.

‘I have never seen anything like this,’ said veterinarian Otto Holst.
http://www.cphpost.dk/get/87499.html