Last decade, the widespread discovery of deformities in amphibians prompted Minnesota (and other states) to devote time and effort to pinpointing causes. Among possibilities were pesticides, other chemicals, ultraviolet radiation, parasites, or a combination of the above.
Now governments have moved on to the next fad without really determining what's going on. See below:
This summer, my husband and I brought our two daughters to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area for a peaceful, pristine retreat from busy city life. Several days after setting up camp on the South Kawishiwi River, in one of Minnesota's most protected areas of water, my 7-year-old daughter discovered a six-legged frog.
A biologist we contacted at the National Forest Service wanted to know all the details we could provide about the frog and where we had been camped. She said this may be the first reported malformed frog from that region of Minnesota.
I returned home eager to report the frog and share the photos with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. I was startled to discover that, following severe budget cuts in 2001, it no longer collects data about malformed amphibians in Minnesota.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/5619487.html
Perhaps the agencies agree with U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice nominee John Roberts that all amphibians are just hapless toads in the end.
www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/4974211/12203291.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
But assuming what happens to amphibians can't happen to us is a risky business. Dividing humans from the "environment" often brings serious problems.
Canaries in a coal mine are hapless, too.
Posted by Dave at September 20, 2005 06:54 AM