gross me out!

This mischievous heads-up from hubby has to be the winner in the ‘gross me out’ department...

"Mystery of the exploding toads"

Visitors to Hamburg parks are being warned to watch out for exploding toads.

Several thousand toads in the city's parks have so far mysteriously spontaneously exploded, sending entrails and toad body parts over a wide area.

Vets and animal welfare workers said the mystery has decimated the city's toad population as well as the unpleasant problem of leaving toad parts scattered around parks and open spaces. [read more ...]

Speculation as to what’s causing it includes:
- "Hungry crows are pecking out their livers" - Berlin veterinarian Frank Mutschmann (posited in an Associated Press article, "Exploding German toads alarm onlookers"
- viral infection caught from horses on a nearby racetrack
- toads committing suicide from over-population

The Hamburg pond has been called ‘The Death Pool.’ Death too, to the myth of benevolent ‘Mother Nature.’