Poor exploding toads!

The Register, an oline publication from the UK first reported this story about exploding toads in a pond in Hamburg, Germany in April 2005. 

There was a recent update that "crows have been fingered as the culprits. Apparently the crow pecks a small hole in the toad to get at the liver. The toad begins to inflate itself - its normal defence mechanism - but because there is no separation between lung cavity and abdomen, the poor blighter keeps on expanding until it goes pop."

There is a nice thread in the science section of Netscape.com where people are discussing the poor toads...

Obviously, we here at SquareToad are sad about our poor brothers in the pond.