A burning hole in the toad mystery

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 and pop, said Janne Kloepper, of the Hamburg Institute for Hygiene and the Environment.

“It’s absolutely strange,” she said.