Exploding animal
Encyclopedia
The explosion
of animal
s is an uncommon event arising through natural causes or human activity. Among the best known examples are 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.
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 may be defense-related. A number of toad
s in Germany
and Denmark
exploded in April 2005.
attempts have been made to use animals as delivery systems for weapons. During World War II
the United States
investigated the use of "bat bomb
s", or bat
s carrying small incendiary bombs,The Bat Bombers, C. V. Glines, Journal of the Airforce Association, October 1990, Vol. 73, No. 10 (accessed November 17 2006) while at the same time the Soviet Union
developed the "anti-tank dog
" for use against German tank
s. Other attempts have included the so-called kamikaze dolphins, intended to seek out and destroy submarines and enemy warships.
There have been a number of documented incidents of animal-borne bomb attacks
, in which donkey
s, mule
s or horse
s were used to deliver bombs
.
, a species of carpenter ant, include self-destruction by autothysis
. Two oversized, poison-filled mandibular glands run the entire length of the ant's body. When combat takes a turn for the worse, the ant violently contracts its abdominal muscles to rupture its body and spray poison in all directions. Another instance of autothysis is that of the termite Globitermes sulphureus
.
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.
s in the Altona
district of Hamburg were observed by nature protection officials to swell up with gas
es and explode, propelling their innards for distances of up to one metre. 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", and were noted to live a short time after exploding.
Berlin veterinarian
Franz Mutschmann collected toad corpses and performed necropsies. He theorised that the phenomenon was linked to a recent influx of predatory crow
s to the area. He stated that 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."
Other theories included a viral
or fungal
infection, possibly one also affecting foreign horse
s involved in racing
at a nearby track. However, laboratory tests were unable to detect an infectious agent.
, (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; or that the alligator was already dead when swallowed; or that a third animal or human was responsible for cutting open and decapitating the snake; or that the alligator decomposed and ruptured the snake's body.
Explosion
An explosion is a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner, usually with the generation of high temperatures and the release of gases. An explosion creates a shock wave. If the shock wave is a supersonic detonation, then the source of the blast is called a "high explosive"...
of animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
s is an uncommon event arising through natural causes or human activity. Among the best known examples are the post-mortem explosion of whales, either as a result of natural decomposition
Decomposition
Decomposition is the process by which organic material is broken down into simpler forms of matter. The process is essential for recycling the finite matter that occupies physical space in the biome. Bodies of living organisms begin to decompose shortly after death...
or deliberate attempts at carcass
Carrion
Carrion refers to the carcass of a dead animal. Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters include vultures, hawks, eagles, hyenas, Virginia Opossum, Tasmanian Devils, coyotes, Komodo dragons, and burying beetles...
disposal. Other instances of exploding animals are defensive in nature or the result of human intervention.
Causes of explosions
Natural explosions can occur for a variety of reasons. Post-mortem explosions, like that of a beachedBeached whale
A beached whale is a whale that has stranded itself on land, usually on a beach. Beached whales often die due to dehydration, the body collapsing under its own weight, or drowning when high tide covers the blowhole.-Species:...
whale
Exploding whale
The term exploding whale most often refers to an event at Florence, Oregon, in 1970, when a dead sperm whale was blown up by the Oregon Highway Division in an attempt to dispose of its rotting carcass. The explosion threw whale flesh over away...
, 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 may be defense-related. A number of toad
Toad
A toad is any of a number of species of amphibians in the order Anura characterized by dry, leathery skin , short legs, and snoat-like parotoid glands...
s in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
exploded in April 2005.
External influences
Various militaryMilitary
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
attempts have been made to use animals as delivery systems for weapons. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
investigated the use of "bat bomb
Bat bomb
Bat bombs were bomb-shaped casings with numerous compartments, each containing a Mexican Free-tailed Bat with a small timed incendiary bomb attached. Dropped from a bomber at dawn, the casings would deploy a parachute in mid-flight and open to release the bats which would then roost in eaves and...
s", or bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
s carrying small incendiary bombs,The Bat Bombers, C. V. Glines, Journal of the Airforce Association, October 1990, Vol. 73, No. 10 (accessed November 17 2006) while at the same time the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
developed the "anti-tank dog
Anti-tank dog
Anti-tank dogs were dogs taught to carry explosives to tanks, armored vehicles and other military targets. They were intensively trained by the Soviet and Russian military forces between 1930 and 1996 and used in 1941–1942 against German tanks in World War II...
" for use against German tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
s. Other attempts have included the so-called kamikaze dolphins, intended to seek out and destroy submarines and enemy warships.
There have been a number of documented incidents of animal-borne bomb attacks
Animal-borne bomb attacks
Animal-borne bomb attacks are the use of animals as delivery systems for explosives. The explosives are strapped to a pack animal such as a horse, mule or donkey and set off in a crowd.-Afghanistan:...
, in which donkey
Donkey
The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E...
s, mule
Mule
A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny...
s or horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s were used to deliver bombs
Improvised explosive device
An improvised explosive device , also known as a roadside bomb, is a homemade bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action...
.
Ants
The defensive behaviors of Camponotus saundersiCarpenter ant
Carpenter ants are large ants indigenous to many parts of the world. They prefer dead, damp wood in which to build nests. They do not eat it, however, unlike termites. Sometimes carpenter ants will hollow out sections of trees. The most likely species to be infesting a house in the United States...
, a species of carpenter ant, include self-destruction by autothysis
Autothysis
Autothysis is the process where an animal destroys itself via an internal rupturing or explosion of an organ which ruptures the skin. The term was proposed by Maschwitz and Maschwitz in 1974 to describe the defensive mechanism of the carpenter ant . It is caused by a contraction of muscles around a...
. Two oversized, poison-filled mandibular glands run the entire length of the ant's body. When combat takes a turn for the worse, the ant violently contracts its abdominal muscles to rupture its body and spray poison in all directions. Another instance of autothysis is that of the termite Globitermes sulphureus
Globitermes sulphureus
Globitermes sulphureus is a species of termite that is very common in Central and Southern Vietnam and also present in other areas of South East Asia, including Malaysia. They live in nests made of earth that can be up to 1.5m tall and can contain tens of thousands of individuals...
.
Others are altruistic, or at the expense of the individual in defense of its colony
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
. Several species of ants, such as Camponotus saundersi
Camponotus saundersi
Camponotus saundersi is a species of ant found in Malaysia and Brunei, belonging to the genus of Carpenter ants. Workers can explode suicidally as an ultimate act of defense, an ability it has in common with several other species in this genus and a few other insects...
in southeast Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, 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.
Toads
According to worldwide media reports in April 2005, toadToad
A toad is any of a number of species of amphibians in the order Anura characterized by dry, leathery skin , short legs, and snoat-like parotoid glands...
s in the Altona
Altona, Hamburg
Altona is the westernmost urban borough of the German city state of Hamburg, on the right bank of the Elbe river. From 1640 to 1864 Altona was under the administration of the Danish monarchy. Altona was an independent city until 1937...
district of Hamburg were observed by nature protection officials to swell up with gas
Gas
Gas is one of the three classical states of matter . Near absolute zero, a substance exists as a solid. As heat is added to this substance it melts into a liquid at its melting point , boils into a gas at its boiling point, and if heated high enough would enter a plasma state in which the electrons...
es and explode, propelling their innards for distances of up to one metre. 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
Environmental movement
The environmental movement, a term that includes the conservation and green politics, is a diverse scientific, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues....
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
Witness
A witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about an event, or in the criminal justice systems usually a crime, through his or her senses and can help certify important considerations about the crime or event. A witness who has seen the event first hand is known as an eyewitness...
, "toads swell up to three-and-a-half times their normal size before blowing up", and were noted to live a short time after exploding.
Berlin veterinarian
Veterinarian
A veterinary physician, colloquially called a vet, shortened from veterinarian or veterinary surgeon , is a professional who treats disease, disorder and injury in animals....
Franz Mutschmann collected toad corpses and performed necropsies. He theorised that the phenomenon was linked to a recent influx of predatory crow
Crow
Crows form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-size jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents and several...
s to the area. He stated that 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."
Other theories included a viral
Virus
A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...
or fungal
Fungus
A fungus is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds , as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria...
infection, possibly one also affecting foreign horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s involved in racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
at a nearby track. However, laboratory tests were unable to detect an infectious agent.
Snake at Everglades National Park
In October 2005, rangers in the Everglades National ParkEverglades National Park
Everglades National Park is a national park in the U.S. state of Florida that protects the southern 25 percent of the original Everglades. It is the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States, and is visited on average by one million people each year. It is the third-largest...
, (USA), discovered the carcass of a 6-foot (1.8 meter) alligator
Alligator
An alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. There are two extant alligator species: the American alligator and the Chinese alligator ....
protruding from the burst and headless carcass of 13-foot (4 meter) Burmese python
Burmese Python
The Burmese Python is the largest subspecies of the Indian Python and one of the 6 largest snakes in the world, native to a large variation of tropic and subtropic areas of Southern- and Southeast Asia. They are often found near water and are sometimes semi-aquatic, but can also be found in trees...
(a non-native, invasive species
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
). It was suggested that the alligator had tried to claw its way out of the snake; or that the alligator was already dead when swallowed; or that a third animal or human was responsible for cutting open and decapitating the snake; or that the alligator decomposed and ruptured the snake's body.
See also
- Decline in frog populations
- Military animals as living bombs
- Raining animalsRaining animalsRaining animals is a rare meteorological phenomenon in which flightless animals "rain" from the sky. Such occurrences have been reported from many countries throughout history. One hypothesis offered to explain this phenomenon is that strong winds traveling over water sometimes pick up creatures...
- Spontaneous human combustionSpontaneous human combustionSpontaneous human combustion describes reported cases of the burning of a living human body without an apparent external source of ignition...
- Animal-borne bomb attacksAnimal-borne bomb attacksAnimal-borne bomb attacks are the use of animals as delivery systems for explosives. The explosives are strapped to a pack animal such as a horse, mule or donkey and set off in a crowd.-Afghanistan:...