"For the four years prior to the quake, Grant had been regularly studying the breeding habits of toads at San Ruffino Lake, which is 46 miles from the epicenter. Normally, as the full moon approached, more and more toads would come down to a shallow pool at the lake's edge from the surrounding hills to breed. Grant would monitor their numbers, recording the weather and other environmental conditions.
Last year, she and an assistant were tracking the toads leading up to the full moon when they noticed a surprising change. "Their numbers were increasing," Grant told AOL News, "and then one day we came and there were hardly any toads. The next day there was one. And then none."
Typically the population ranged from 67 to 115. Five days before the earthquake, 96 percent of the male toads were gone. In the past, Grant had seen that a change in the weather could keep her subjects away for a day or so. "But usually the day after, they come back. I'd never seen it happen where there were none for several consecutive days," she said.
A few days after the last toads disappeared, the earthquake struck L'Aquila, and Halliday e-mailed Grant to see if she and her assistant were safe. "I wrote back, 'I'm OK, but the toads are all gone,' " Grant recalled." - Gregory Mone
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