Toads keep exploding in German pond

From the AP via the Houston Chronicle:

More than 1,000 toads have puffed up and exploded in a Hamburg pond in recent weeks, and German scientists have no explanation for what's causing the combustion.

Both the pond's water and body parts of the toads have been tested, but scientists have been unable to find a bacteria or virus that would cause the toads to swell up and pop, said Janne Kloepper, of the Hamburg-based Institute for Hygiene and the Environment.

"It's absolutely strange," she said Wednesday.

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Toads, like other amphibians, are generally considered to be the coal mine canaries of the environment. That is, because amphibians have such thin skins, they are extraordinarily susceptible to pollution and toxins--when frogs and toads start dying off or mutating weirdly, it's a pretty good indicator that their surrounding environment is in trouble. But exploding? This is damned bizarre. I have no idea what to make of it, but it seems worth noting.

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