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TOAD SIGNE: |
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AGILIS Senior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 No. of posts: 694  View other posts by AGILIS |
Posted: 05 Aug 2010 Well at least in Suffolk and on the Norfolk border we have real toad signes 
 LOCAL ICYNICAL CELTIC ECO WARRIOR AND FAILED DRUID |
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Paul Hudson Member Joined: 24 Sep 2004 No. of posts: 33  View other posts by Paul Hudson |
Posted: 05 Aug 2010 I wonder what that guy is up to on the far right side of the photo,It looks like you caught him in an uncompromising position!! the mind boggles!
Paul Hudson Paul Hudson |
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tim hamlett Senior Member Joined: 17 Dec 2006 No. of posts: 572  View other posts by tim hamlett |
Posted: 05 Aug 2010 if i saw a toad looking as depressed as that one crossing the road i'd be tempted to run it over to put it out of its misery! tim |
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Suzi Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 No. of posts: 860 View other posts by Suzi |
Posted: 05 Aug 2010 It's a nice idea but would people really stop or slow down for something so small? Think of badgers and hedgehogs - flattened, and they're bigger. The thing is by the time you see one (a toad or anything), and if there's other traffic, it's almost too late/dangerous to take avoiding action. If the sign is mainly for migration times then it would be best to just put one up then so that people don't become used to it all year round. Surely underpasses are better, or is the crossing area too widespread? I have no idea of the cost of such constructions. Suz |
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Chris Monk Senior Member Joined: 21 Apr 2004 No. of posts: 157 View other posts by Chris Monk |
Posted: 05 Aug 2010 The highway regulations governing toad signs state that they should only be put up during the migration period (Feb to May), so they should be taken down or covered up outside of these times. (This does also mean that the signs have more impact as motorists are more likely to spot changes as Suzi says). Putting in a toad tunnel crossing is very expensive unless included in new road construction or major road works on an existing road. Unfortunately that does not guarantee the toads will use the tunnel without fencing or other physical barrier to stop them getting onto the road and direct them into the mouth of the tunnel. Then the structures /fences have to be maintained. I'm just dealing with a properly constructed toad crossing put in on a new road in Nottinghamshire in about 1996. There was no money to maintain the fences or tunnels, the former being vandalised or demolished by cars coming off the road and the latter units becoming loose or cracked. In the last few months the tunnels have been filled in with tarmac and all the fencing removed as I presume that was the Council's cheap option. From inquiries so far it appears that no-one ever monitored the success of the tunnels or the Council even consulted its own Ecologist before infilling it! Here in Derbyshire we can't get the Council to even put up any signs, we have to buy our own signs and put them up and take them down ourselves. Derbyshire Amphibian & Reptile Group www.derbyshirearg.co.uk |
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will Senior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 No. of posts: 330 View other posts by will |
Posted: 06 Aug 2010 I think that the toad signs are also supposed to alert motorists to the possibility that people may be in the road collecting animals, so there's a human road safety element too. |
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Suzi Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 No. of posts: 860 View other posts by Suzi |
Posted: 06 Aug 2010 Well Will if that is their intention how would anyone know from the sign?! Suz |
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will Senior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 No. of posts: 330 View other posts by will |
Posted: 06 Aug 2010 I guess enlightened motorists might be aware that there's a certain eccentric group of people who save toads on roads, although maybe some people might think the sign refers to Cane Toads and that it's a request to run them over! |
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ben rigsby Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 No. of posts: 337 View other posts by ben rigsby |
Posted: 15 Aug 2010 hi folks, weve had signs just like the one keith spotted in suffolk for years here in glos. i assumed they were widespread. like suze i have some reservations as to their efffectiveness but at least the prescence of toads is highlighted for motorists. better than NO sign. even if, as she suggests, their meaning is unclear. the ones here are breeding season only. on a driving assessment course once i learned that triangular "warning" road signs are only erected by councils at a given site following an accident/incident. they are not put up proactively at likely danger sites. so i wonder how many toads died prior to sign erection here. they were there years before any signs went up. happily, its worth remembering that amphibians often travel at night when there is less traffic. the road signs are well highlighted then in the beams of an oncoming vehicles lights. especially in rural locations. ben Diversity. |
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Baby Sue Senior Member Joined: 19 Feb 2008 No. of posts: 412  View other posts by Baby Sue |
Posted: 16 Nov 2010 I got the council to stick up 3 toad signs by me.
Well I asked if I could have temporary ones and the lady from the council looked into it but said no but I could have these so theyÆre been up a few years now and donÆt make a blind bit of difference. I wanted presents from lots of you. Snot fair that Ben Rigsby was the only one to send me Xmas & birthday presents. 
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- TOAD SIGNE |
I mean it wouldnÆt as clueless people who donÆt know about frogs donÆt know they cross roads at night or in spring time so they might be passing in autumn in the daytime and just think froggies ainÆt around ever and the signs are a waste of time. 
They should be temporary ones really. 
& bigger and more noticeable cos I donÆt reckon everyone even notices them. 
For the nice people in Riddlesden I seem to be the main alerter, the nice people slow down when they see me with my torch and bucket but the majority of people donÆt care and just go straight over them. 