A thumb-sized toad army
invades a village following heavy rain in southwest China's Sichuan
Province.
A remote village in southwest China's Sichuan Province has witnessed a relentless
battle between humans and toads since heavy rainfall brought a
swarm of them to the village on Thursday.
The rain didn't stop until Thursday morning in Qingjiang
Village, Dayi County in southwestern Sichuan Province. Villagers
there all got cold-feet after waking up from their dreams only to
find their house engulfed by black, thumb-sized toads, with many
more arriving from outside. According to local residents, hundreds
of thousands of toads were estimated to have landed out of
rain-flooded nearby rivers and fields.
Out of sharp fear, people kept their doors deadly shut and
seized any possible tools at hand, like brooms or dustpans, to
fight the unwelcome invaders.
Fearful as they were, the villagers didn't really want to hurt
the toads; simply to sweep them away and chase them back to the
fields. Toads, as they know, eat pests and are quite beneficial to
the growth of plants, and are thus highly valued.
Some villagers later found a trick that proved successful:
hand-clapping. Toads would become frightened as long as they hear
the sound of clapping hands, and would then retreat, hopping back
into the field nearby.
Explaining this strange phenomenon, scientists say it may relate
to the climate.
At present, it is a peak time for toads to reproduce. And there
are two rivers surrounding the village. Moreover, there came a
timely rain after a long drought, thus all toads became more active
than usual.
Such analysis has been approved by the wildlife expert of Dayi
County. The expert explained that the occurrence of such a massive
number of toads was closely related to the climate, and posed no
harm to villagers.
(CRI April 28, 2007)
