Exploding animal

The explosion of animals is an uncommon event arising through natural causes or human activity. Among the most well known examples would be the post-mortem explosion of whales, either as a result of natural decomposition or deliberate attempts at carcass disposal. Other instances of exploding animals are defensive in nature or the result of human intervention.

Causes of explosions

Natural processes

Natural explosions can occur for a variety of reasons. Post-mortem explosions, like that of a beached whale, are the result of the build-up of natural gases created by methane-producing bacteria inside the carcass during the decomposition process.

Natural explosions which occur while an animal is living are typically defense-related. A significant population of toads in Germany and Denmark exploded in April 2005 when their normal self-defense act, self-inflating to look bigger while under attack by crows, obviously failed. Others are altruistic, or at the expense of the individual in defense of its colony. Several species of ants, such as Camponotus saundersi in southeast Asia, seemingly explode at will to protect their nests from intruders. Likewise, many species of termites have members, deemed the soldier class, who can split their bodies open emitting a noxious and sticky chemical for the same reason.

External influences

Various military attempts have been made to use animals as delivery systems for weapons. During World War II the U.S. investigated the use of "bat bombs", or bats carrying small incendiary bombs, while at the same time the Soviet Union developed the "anti-tank dog" for use against German tanks. Other attempts have included the desert-based use of donkeys carrying explosives and the so-called kamikaze dolphins, intended to seek out and destroy submarines and enemy warships.

Exploding toads

An exploding toad occurs when a crow, hunting for toad liver, attacks a toad which then puffs up as a natural defense. The phenomenon was first noticed in April 2005 in districts of Hamburg, Germany, and near a lake at Låsby, Denmark, dubbed "The Pond of Death." No other animals in the area were exploding.

What differentiates the exploding toads in these incidents from most other exploding animals is that they explode while alive. Exploding whales, for example, are a result of the buildup of gases during the process of decomposition.

Description

According to worldwide media reports in late April 2005, numerous toads in the Altona district of Hamburg were observed by nature protection officials to swell up with gases and explode, propelling their innards for distances of up to one meter. These incidents prompted local residents to refer to the area's lake—home to the toads—as "Tümpel des Todes" (Pool of Death). The incidents were reported as occurring with greatest frequency between 2 and 3 a.m. Werner Smolnik, environmental movement worker, stated on April 26, 2005, at least 1,000 toads had died in this manner over a series of a few days.

According to a witness, "toads swell up to three-and-a-half times their normal size before blowing up".

Explanations

Berlin veterinarian Franz Mutschmann collected corpses and performed autopsies. From his work, it was determined that the phenomenon was linked to a recent influx of predatory crows to the area. The cause was a mixture of crow attacks and the natural puff up defense of the toads. Crows attacked the toads to pick through the skin between the amphibian's chest and abdominal cavity, picking out the liver, which appears to be a delicacy for crows in the area. In a defensive move, the toads begin to blow themselves up, which in turn, due to the hole in the toad's body and the missing liver, led to a rupture of blood vessels and lungs, and to the spreading of intestines. The apparent epidemic nature of the phenomenon was also explained by Mutschmann: "Crows are intelligent animals. They learn very quickly how to eat the toads' livers."

Previous explanations included a viral or fungal infection, possibly one also affecting foreign horses involved in racing at a nearby track. However, laboratory tests were unable to detect an infectious agent. Danish biologists suggested pesticides as an explanation. Yet another explanation was that increased ultraviolet radiation caused by ozone depletion was to blame.

Donkey

There have been several documented incidents of donkeys and mules being used to deliver bombs.

Lebanon

After the 1982 invasion of Lebanon by Israel, Shiite militants turned to suicide attacks to drive out the Israeli army. On one occasion, a mule was used as a bomb carrier instead. Other times, bombers were intercepted with explosives hidden on themselves while they were riding donkeys.

West Bank

One donkey was exploded near a checkpoint in the West Bank town of Bethlehem on January 26, 2003. No humans died in the attack, and it was uncertain as to whether the attack was meant specifically to kill Israeli soldiers; the attack coincided with Israeli advances into the Gaza Strip.

The attack did provoke a response from PETA president Ingrid Newkirk, who, after receiving many complaints, wrote a letter to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat asking him to encourage others to "leave the animals out of this conflict". In the letter, she cited historical examples of US, UK, and Al Qaeda-sponsored abuses of other animals in conflicts, specifically noting dogs were simply left in Vietnam by the US during the Vietnam War, despite the fact that they were "loyal." She thus came to the conclusion that:

Animals claim no nation. They are in perpetual involuntary servitude to all humankind, and although they pose no threat and own no weapons, human beings always win in the undeclared war against them. For animals, there is no Geneva Convention and no peace treaty—just our mercy.

Iraq

In 2004, during the Iraq War, a donkey in Ramadi, Iraq was loaded with explosives and set off towards a US-run checkpoint. It exploded before it was able to injure or kill anyone but itself. The incident, along with a number of similar incidents involving dogs, fueled fears of terrorist practices of using living animals as weapons, a change from an older practice of using the bodies of dead animals to hold explosives.

Exploding snake at Everglades National Park

In October 2005, rangers in the Everglades National Park, (USA), discovered the carcass of a 6-foot (1.8 meter) alligator protruding from the burst and headless carcass of 13-foot (4 meter) Burmese python (a non-native, invasive species). It was suggested that the alligator had tried to claw its way out of the snake, that the alligator was already dead when swallowed, that a third animal or human was responsible for cutting open and beheading the snake, or that the alligator decomposed and ruptured the snake's body.

See also

• Decline in frog populations
• Spontaneous human combustion
• Raining animals
• Spontaneous human combustion
• Military animals
• Exploding sheep

References

• CBS news: Israel Moves Deep Into Gaza January 26, 2003.
• PETA Leave the Animals in Peace: PETA's letter to Yasser Arafat February 3, 2003.
• The Standard (originally from The Los Angeles Times): Dogs of war can be friend or foe August 12, 2005.