Talk:Exploding toad

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[edit] Exploding toad pics

Can anyone in Hamburg take a picture of the toads? I still cannot believe it. -- Toytoy 06:03, Apr 25, 2005 (UTC)

Heres a link w a pic. I don't think its fair use, but copyrights arn't my area. Cheers, Sam Spade 11:40, 26 Apr 2005 (UTC)
They are, Sam. Since they used screenshots from their footage, it's okay. -- user:zanimum

[edit] Marlboro Frogs?

... children have long exploded toads by putting cigarrettes in their mouths. ... Toads inhale through their mouths but they exhale through their skin. If the air is too polluted this process cannot be completed and the gases continue to build up until they explode.

No, I don't believe it. The mouth-in, skin-out theory is all wrong. The cigarette story is all wrong. -- Toytoy 10:31, Apr 26, 2005 (UTC)

  • I believe it now says that it's an urban legend. Possibly you change that yourself. -- user:zanimum
Yes, I did the rewrite. From now on, I'll call it "Mad Toad Disease" or "Mad Frog Disease" on talk pages. It feels so good to coin a new term. Ha! -- Toytoy 18:56, Apr 26, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Pardon me, but

What the hell? This article is so weird I can't even tell if it is true or not. ABC link checks out, but still, what the hell???

Hi, Im from Hamburg and the "exploding toads" thing is really true, though they dont really explode but blow themselves up and with a nice "plopp" they die. No splattering or big sounds. Most scientists currently believe that crows are the reason for that, and that due to some natural mechanisms when the inner organs are missing the toads blow themselves up, it is not really clear whether this is useful for something or a side effect. unfortunately I wasnt able to take a photo as I didnt had the time to go there when the toads exploded. Btw. it happens all over the world and is well documented even in ancient biological books that when you rip out the inner organs of the toads that they blow themselves up (was probably first seen when people just ripped of the legs to eat them and accidentaly ripped of something else). You can try it for yourself, just go out, get a toad and...


And some of it seems to be a joke - crows scaring toads so much that they explode? Toads acting altrustically and committing suicide? TOADS COMMITTING SUICIDE??? --Ignignot 16:00, Apr 26, 2005 (UTC)

A similar theory was advanced by a member of the Berkeley, California City Council when an epidemic of decapitated parking meters was troubling the city. He suggested that the problem was low self-esteem among parking meters leading to their suicides, which could only be countered by a program to enhance their self-esteem. You probably had to be in California in the late 1990s when low self-esteem was offered as the explanation for everything but earthquakes and El Niño to appreciate that. --Italo Svevo 16:19, 26 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Ha ha. Funny. -- user:zanimum

[edit] Come to Denmark, see our frogs explode...

The phenomenon have spread to Denmark, more precisely in the vicinity of Århus. The.valiant.paladin

[edit] Anatomy

To make this article truly encyclopedic, we need to explain which body part or parts caused the explosion. Is that the lung? Is that the throat? The whole body? The GI tract? A chemical analysis of the gas composition. ... I really don't think a frog or a toad could inhale so much air to cause a small explosion. I could be wrong. This "Mad Toad Disease" is so f**king weird. I expect some scients are already writing papers. -- Toytoy 18:52, Apr 26, 2005 (UTC)

I suspect its a media exageration. Their job is to sell papers (and stories) after all. Sam Spade 19:30, 26 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Well, according to local news here in Denmark hundreds of toads have exploded during the last week. We even saw a live toad explode on TV! Great fun for all, especially the children!
Except the toad really didn't *explode* as such, it was more like it ruptured. -The.valiant.paladin 20:39, 26 Apr 2005 (UTC)
I really don't think that "3.5 times as large" claim is credible. Even if you connect a poor defenseless toad to a pump, I doubt you can increase its volume by so much. Can anyone tell me where to download a web video of toad explosion? -- Toytoy 02:37, Apr 27, 2005 (UTC)
The photos here [1] and here [2] might give an idea at just how much the toads swell up. "3.5 times as large" seems like an exageration, but the toads do swell up quite a bit. By the way, I think one of these photos for the time would be better for the main article.I haven't been able to locate any videos, though. -The.valiant.paladin 13:48, 27 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Recall that a volume change of 3.5 times is a linear change of 1.5 times. -- SGBailey 15:39, 2005 Apr 27 (UTC)

[edit] Congratulations

A most wonderful exploding article. Officially endorsed by Ta bu shi da yu.

Maybe you would like to know the bones of the Taiwanese exploding whale has become a well-preserved specimen displayed in a museum. I'll supply the details later. Ta bu shi da yu, ta men ye bu shi da qing wa. -- Toytoy 03:04, Apr 27, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Conflicting paragraphs

"... (It's questionable if anybody has actually witnessed one of the toads explode.)"

and

"According to a witness, "toads swell up to three-and-a-half times their normal size before blowing up". ..."

You can't have it both ways - which is it? -- SGBailey 11:47, 2005 Apr 27 (UTC)

I deleted the "questionable" bit. it is questionable, but there are accounts of eye witnesses in the external links. Sam Spade 11:57, 27 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Map

Can anyone provide us a map of the pool? Based on a Danish picture [3], I think that pool is quite small. I'd like to know if there's a horse racing facility nearby. By the way, is the pool near Elbe river? I checked Microsoft AutoRoute, there are several parks in Altona district. I still don't know where is the pool.

You can use a map software or NASA World Wind (I don't think the pool shows up very well on a 13 m resolution image). -- Toytoy 14:38, Apr 27, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] WTF?

I'm still not sure this isn't a BJAODN... This is so weird, that I'm not sure I'll ever believe it since I didn't see it myself...Frenchman113 16:34, 27 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Funny, that's what people used to say about exploding whale :-) Ta bu shi da yu 05:55, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Yeah, thank God for Dave Barry on that one. -Litefantastic 16:39, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC)
I remember watching documentaries about exploding cane toads. If this article ever gets to featured article quality, I really hope we can delay any sort of FAC nomination until next year, shortly before April 1. :-) --Deathphoenix 18:20, 9 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Problems with this page

Hi, I may be recorded as yor typical old anoynomus user when I am here, but I am really Andylandandrew. For some reason, every time I go to this Exploding Toad page, I am listed as being logged in, but when go to anyother page, I am listed as being not logged in?

Hello.

About the exploding toads: In Vienna, Austria, there is an evil tradition among young boys. It is called "Kröten-sprengen" to blow up toads. Every year in spring the young viennese boys cycle to the surrounding forests with cigarettes. They put a cigarette into the mouth of a toad and after 2 minutes the toad has pumped up that it bursts. This is because of a defensive behaviour. The toad is afraid of fire because of the smoke. Toads blow themselves up if they are afraid. Normally this behaviour is to fend off of snakes, because a toad can pump itself up three times its own volume. This behaviour which saves lifes is a trap for a toad which is given a burning cigarette.--167.83.109.21 14:02, 24 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Linda Howe

If it is weird, involves animals killed by unusual means, find it on Linda Moulton Howe's website. Click here. Martial Law 05:26, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] TFD

[edit] TfD nomination of Template:Exploding organisms

Template:Exploding organisms has been nominated for deletion. You are invited to comment on the discussion at the template's entry on the Templates for Deletion page. Thank you. — DropDeadGorgias (talk) 20:06, 11 May 2007 (UTC)