While we continue to worry about the vanishing bees, let’s not forget the deformed frogs. This picture and story are from the BBC. (Thanks Valerie)
"The creature - which has six legs - has stunned a BBC wildlife expert who said it could be an early warning of environmental problems. Laura Pepper, from the Green Umbrella nursery in Weston-super-Mare, said: "We thought it was three frogs huddled together at first. "It is very strange. The children couldn't believe it." Mike Dilger, from the BBC Natural History Unit, said: "I have never seen anything like this. "Frogs are primitive animals - so the occasional extra toe is not that unusual. But this is very unusual." All the creature's eyes and legs appear to function normally, but it is not known whether it eats using all three of its mouths. The amphibian was kept in a container for several hours but hopped away later while nursery staff were showing it to curious parents."
Meanwhile, back in the USA, frog deformity is at epidemic proportions, and, in the Clinton era, research was linking it with industrial pollution. But then Bush arrived and the whole deal, like anything else that might be good for the planet, but bad for business, was instantly defunded to provide tax-cuts for Donald Trump, Bill Gates, and Paris Hilton. States still struggle on but it’s a story largely ignored by the media except as a three-legged geek bite. As the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency neatly summed it up…
"Deformed frogs have been found in Minnesota and in other parts of the country. They were being studied by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and other government agencies to determine the cause of the deformities. However, as of July 1, 2001, funding for the MPCA to work with deformed frogs was discontinued. Some federal agencies are continuing to work on the problem." For more.
"The creature - which has six legs - has stunned a BBC wildlife expert who said it could be an early warning of environmental problems. Laura Pepper, from the Green Umbrella nursery in Weston-super-Mare, said: "We thought it was three frogs huddled together at first. "It is very strange. The children couldn't believe it." Mike Dilger, from the BBC Natural History Unit, said: "I have never seen anything like this. "Frogs are primitive animals - so the occasional extra toe is not that unusual. But this is very unusual." All the creature's eyes and legs appear to function normally, but it is not known whether it eats using all three of its mouths. The amphibian was kept in a container for several hours but hopped away later while nursery staff were showing it to curious parents."
Meanwhile, back in the USA, frog deformity is at epidemic proportions, and, in the Clinton era, research was linking it with industrial pollution. But then Bush arrived and the whole deal, like anything else that might be good for the planet, but bad for business, was instantly defunded to provide tax-cuts for Donald Trump, Bill Gates, and Paris Hilton. States still struggle on but it’s a story largely ignored by the media except as a three-legged geek bite. As the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency neatly summed it up…
"Deformed frogs have been found in Minnesota and in other parts of the country. They were being studied by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and other government agencies to determine the cause of the deformities. However, as of July 1, 2001, funding for the MPCA to work with deformed frogs was discontinued. Some federal agencies are continuing to work on the problem." For more.
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1 comment:
I notice frogs don't simulate as much sympathy or panic as frogs.
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