Why do Thousands of Toads Cross the Road? - Neatorama

Photo: Yangtse

There was a sight to be seen at a bridge in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, China a couple of days ago: the migration of thousands of toads!

Thousands of toads were spotted at a bridge in Taizhou, Jiangsu province, China, on May 9. According to local expert, the toads were enduring a mass migration because of the depleting oxygen resource in a nearby river.
From the pic it seems like the chance of survival for the toads are not looking good on the road too…

Link - Thanks Jee!

Either or, neither nor:

"From the pic it seems like the chance of survival for the toads are not looking good on the road too..."

should read

"From the pic it seems like the chance of survival for the toads are not looking good on the road either...."

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is it wrong that the first thought in my mind was "ultimate frogger"...seriously though...i feel really bad for the little toads...

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Man, that is an insane amount of frogs.

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Dang. I'm surprised they haven't temporarily shut down the road--I agree it doesn't look very good for the frogs.

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Perhaps they sensed the earth quake in the near future.

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In my area, we have turtle crossing that is almost as busy as this (once a year)Our solution was to place a culvert under the road to allows them to cross safely.

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I was traveling down a dark country road several years ago and nearly had an accident- the road was one mass of frogs (or toads? who could tell in the dark?) moving from one side to the other- it was a nightmare. I really nearly lost the car on all that slime...

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I know who's having frog legs for dinner.

Do toads make noise while they're hopping? I imagine that many of them would be pretty noisy.

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You can't park here... you'll be toad away.

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where i live the same thing happens, except with frogs.

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im thinking its because of the earthquake and they predicted it.

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The obvious answer is that they're trying to get to the other side. Its only the worst joke ever.

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a bufonophobe's nightmare

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These appear to be frogs, not toads (which don't live in bodies of water). I would be surprised if the oxygen content of the water precipitated the migration - frogs breathe air, not oxygen in the water.

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@ Rich

Boooooo! *throws tomatoes* ;)

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I think it is the earthquake... certain animals always migrate before an earthquake, especially ants (that's how we can predict earthquakes in Turkey, if there's a notable trace of ants migrating)

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In a land that encourages infanticide and performs involuntary abortions on women who have the nerve to conceive a second child, they aren't going to lose much sleep over squashing a bunch of toads on the road.

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I bet it was really cute. It reminds me, actually, of Cloverfield.

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I stayed in a condo in Naples, FL a few years ago. Came out one morning to find hundreds of frogs on the front wall. I almost cried from fear and disgust.

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it has something to do with the recent earthquake in china. animals can sense such disasters before they happen.

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Looks like the most evolved animal is not so evolved after all. We couldn't detect and survive natural disasters, but the toads could sensed it. So much for the most intelligent creature on earth.

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Brandon Seno of IL is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
HOT. This Pic is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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