Amphibian Week

It's not a good week to be a toad in Germany or a frog in South America. However, things are looking up. The frog caper was solved by the police, and now the exploding toad mystery in Germany seems to be explained as well. The problem?

Blame the crows.

Toads have been exploding by the hundred in Germany because they are being attacked by crows, a veterinary surgeon revealed. 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."

I had been expecting some form of human pollution, chemicals, or possibly even a fungus or other parasite imported from far away. I definitely didn't see the crow angle coming. I realize they are smart birds, but if these toads and crows have been living in the same area for thousands or millions of years, the crows only just now figured this out? Doesn't that strike you as odd?

(The preceding post was, I admit, entirely non-political in nature. This is mostly because last night's presidential press conference has burned me out on politics for a little while.)