Today’s interesting fact has to do with exploding toads and frogs.

It was noticed some years ago, that toads and frogs were exploding in gardens, parks and along river banks in parts of Europe. No one could explain at first why they were exploding and there were a considerable number of theories advanced, including one that required visiting outer space men.

One biologist noticed that the samples he studied had no livers. So he and several of his colleagues set up blinds and cameras in various frog and toad habitats to determine what was going on. After several weeks of investigation, they realised that the culprits in the case of the exploding frogs and toads were crows.

Crows would fly into the areas, settle down on the ground, and stand still. Toads and Frogs seem to have trouble seeing anything that doesn’t move. They are primed to see movement, so if something stands still, they don’t notice. When a frog or toad got close enough, with surgical precision, the crows would stab the amphibian in the stomach, and remove the liver, which crows seem to really enjoy. This didn’t kill the frogs and toads immediately, but left a wound, that would often partially heal, until the frog or toad decided to make their calls. They would fill their throats, the wound would burst and the poor creature would explode.

This behaviour was only found in certain areas of Europe, but the behaviour seems to be learnt by crows watching other crows, and the actions have been reported in the US now, a world wide phenomenon.