On the evening of September 10, in the vicinity of Luhe Road in Beichen District, Tianjin, a large number of frogs appeared on the road, covering the surface densely. Citizens who filmed the scene on-site expressed that the scene was frightening. The appearance of the frog group caused concern among many citizens, with some suspecting if it was related to seismic activity.
Videos shared by Tianjin residents on social media showed the local roads filled with a dense population of frogs. The person filming the video said, “This is a disaster of toads.” Whether on the road, the lawn, or in between the bricks, there were toads everywhere (Tianjin locals colloquially refer to frogs as toads), and it was terrifying to see.
This incident sparked discussions among many netizens. Some Tianjin netizens believed that these so-called frogs should accurately be called toads.
“Some with trypophobia can’t stand it. People walking or driving on the road could also be frightened!” “Will tourists visiting Tianjin encounter this?” “The roads should be blocked off, and then cleared.”
Some Tianjin netizens from different areas also commented that there were many frogs in their residential communities, especially with more rain recently, frogs could be frequently seen.
On September 11, the urban management bureau of Beichen District responded that they had received feedback from citizens and arranged for the sanitation department to clean up the dead frogs on the road, yet frogs continued to appear at night.
Staff mentioned that they had never encountered frogs on the road before and were unsure of their origin. Some might die from the sun during the day, and we could only clean up those, but they continuously appear at night.