# Al Qaida's New Weapon: Exploding Toads **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 25, 2005, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaidas-new-weapon-exploding-toads/301014 "2005-04-25T13:08:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaidas-new-weapon-exploding-toads/301014/1 "2005-04-25T13:08:52Z")
[This is _really_ bizarre](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1516&ncid=1516&e=2&u=/afp/20050423/od_afp/germanytoadsoffbeat_050423161657) > [@](#): > > Hundreds of toads have met a bizarre and sinister end in Germany in recent days, it was reported: they exploded. > > According to reports from animal welfare workers and veterinarians as many as a thousand of the amphibians have perished after their bodies swelled to bursting point and their entrails were propelled for up to a metre (three feet). > > It is like “a science fiction film”, according to Werner Smolnik of a nature protection society in the northern city of Hamburg, where the phenomenon of the exploding toad has been observed. > > “You see the animals crawling on the ground, swelling and then exploding.” Gotta wonder what’s causing it. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaidas-new-weapon-exploding-toads/301014/2 "2005-04-25T14:08:19Z")
Larger toads are more unstable than smaller, lighter ones; when a large number of them come into close proximity, they reach critical mass and explode. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaidas-new-weapon-exploding-toads/301014/3 "2005-04-25T15:51:13Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Larger toads are more unstable than smaller, lighter ones; when a large number of them come into close proximity, they reach critical mass and explode. _snork_ ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaidas-new-weapon-exploding-toads/301014/4 "2005-04-25T17:15:49Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > they reach critical mass and explode. Ah. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaidas-new-weapon-exploding-toads/301014/5 "2005-04-25T17:18:22Z")
If they buried these exploding frogs in wet mud or under leaves, thereby creating land mines… …would they be a Toad in the Hole? ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaidas-new-weapon-exploding-toads/301014/6 "2005-04-25T17:47:17Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > If they buried these exploding frogs in wet mud or under leaves, thereby creating land mines… > > …would they be a Toad in the Hole? Not for long, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaidas-new-weapon-exploding-toads/301014/7 "2005-04-25T18:00:16Z")
Perhaps the toads are trying to evolve into swamp dragons? Of maybe they mistook themselves for salamandars? ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaidas-new-weapon-exploding-toads/301014/8 "2005-04-25T18:02:06Z")
I’ve never seen a toad croak like that before. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaidas-new-weapon-exploding-toads/301014/9 "2005-04-25T18:31:35Z")
**Hypno-Toad** , why do I suspect you have something to do with this…? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaidas-new-weapon-exploding-toads/301014/10 "2005-04-25T19:26:22Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Larger toads are more unstable than smaller, lighter ones; when a large number of them come into close proximity, they reach critical mass and explode. Well it’s all relative isn’t it? I believe you are referring to the Cornish ultradense toads? Adult males were reported to stand as high as 3 feet at the nares and weigh in excess of 1,000 pounds. The fed mostly on small birds and housecats and are largely responsible for the total absence of predatory species throughout the UK if I’m not mistaken. My sources say they were all but wiped out by John ‘Lackland’ in his struggle against William of Longchamp (he would have dozens of them ‘shoo’ed’ in the direction of enemy troups and as they neared their targets the amphibians would go critical and asplode, drowning the soldiers in “foul ochres.” It is believed, however, that a dozen or so were shipped (seperately) with his estate to France and subsequently escaped, apparently dispersing as far away as Germany. Their mating habits remain a mystery to this day. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaidas-new-weapon-exploding-toads/301014/11 "2005-04-25T20:19:14Z")
“nares”? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaidas-new-weapon-exploding-toads/301014/12 "2005-04-25T20:36:42Z")
Aye, laddie. _[Nares](http://www.flushing.k12.mi.us/srhigh/tippettl/biology/frog/externalnares.html)._ ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaidas-new-weapon-exploding-toads/301014/13 "2005-04-25T20:40:32Z")
What mechanism would actually make toads explode? ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaidas-new-weapon-exploding-toads/301014/14 "2005-04-25T20:44:20Z")
> [@lee](#): > > What mechanism would actually make toads explode? The Acme Toad Exploder. Duh. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaidas-new-weapon-exploding-toads/301014/15 "2005-04-25T20:47:02Z")
We always used Black Cat firecrackers. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaidas-new-weapon-exploding-toads/301014/16 "2005-04-25T20:52:57Z")
In one of those curious incidents of natural coincidence, I once knew a girl whose name was “Nare” . Strangely enough, she was known in some circles as “the Black Cat.” Hmmm, maybe it was “The Exploding Toad.” It’s been a while. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaidas-new-weapon-exploding-toads/301014/17 "2005-04-25T21:06:09Z")
I assume that those studying the toads would have noticed lit fuses sticking out their ends as they hopped by. What mechanisms are consistant with the reports thus far? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaidas-new-weapon-exploding-toads/301014/18 "2005-04-25T21:14:21Z")
> [@lee](#): > > What mechanisms are consistant with the reports thus far? Well, you had to get her to drink a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaidas-new-weapon-exploding-toads/301014/19 "2005-04-25T21:20:26Z")
AAACK! Yer killin me! 😃 : sigh : I guess we should look into the reports and get **lee** an answer… ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaidas-new-weapon-exploding-toads/301014/20 "2005-04-25T21:28:18Z")
Dear Sir: Thank you for your letter requesting information about ALKA-SELTZER Effervescent Antacid and Pain Reliever. You inquired if feeding tablets to toads and frogs would cause their bodies to explode. I am sorry to report that we have no scientific information to support this finding, but we do not recommend such a practice. As you are aware, ALKA-SELTZER is only intended for human consumption and this is only after the tablets are dissolved in water. I would recommend directing any future inquiries of this nature to your local wildlife or forestry organizations. Thank you for writing and for your comments. Sincerely, Sally S. Stump Coordinator, Consumer Relations [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaidas-new-weapon-exploding-toads/301014.md?page=2)