RAUK - Archived Forum - Toads and Roads

I had a very interesting chat with a local chap who had witnessed last year a mass slaughter of toads on this section of road. The details are a little thin on the ground but I am due to talk with him again soon and get the grid ref and more details.

I am guessing that the time is at a time of spawning and are returning ?

Would this mass death of the toads have any knock on effect to other speices and if so what range are we talking about

I am no toad expert so this is only a guess......any help or answers or groups that might pay for signs etc. The local council contact I have is looking into what their highways can do to help.

So please post away

My mission this year is to save these toads from the roads

Ian

Ian, some arg groups have toad crossing coordinators, your local arg will be listed here:

http://www.froglife.org/HGBI/ARGs.htm

If there is no group in your area you could contact Froglife for further advice about setting up a toad patrol:

http://www.froglife.org/

Thanks Gemma.

I am sorry that you had such a bad deal Justin, I can imagine the frustration you must have felt.

With the problem of these toads I am due to speak with our local wildlife trust next week, but I know the biodiversty officer would be very keen to help and get involved. So fingers crossed we can sort it out and prevent the mass loss.

Ian

Our nearest toad pond is due to become a car park. Apparently, the area is of low ecological value. I can't get permission to survey the area despite the fact that it is managed by the local wildlife trust (owned by the local authority) (ggggrrrrrrrrr). I would estimate an adult toad population in the hundreds if not thousands from larva observed last year... I doubt our local authority will be too worried if a few toads are squashed on the bypass this year. :0(

I suspect the area is also good for viviparous lizards and grass snakes too, donÆt ya just love Essex!!!!!!!! I identified GCN eggs within spitting distance of this pond last year, hey and guess what the developer refuses to believe they are there and the ecological report on the toad pond states GCN have not be recorded in the area (I guess nobody bothered to look then)à..

Anyway IÆm off to the local nature reserve to look for adder, the chief honcho hasn't responded to requests for permission to survey there this year either (despite the fact I confirmed a good population was present last year), makes one wonder what on earth is going on.

Well since I first posted I have made some headway. The local council is now aware of the toads, and are trying to tap the highways dept for some money for signs etc. Contacted froglife and they explained about the road registration scheme that they have run for a number of years. The local wildlife trust is setting up a R and A group in the next month or so and want to get involved.

I guess that we are running out of time. matt posted that toads crossing in south wales, Is the normal time now or will it need to warm up alittle on the nights first,   as we have had only cold nights.

Ian

Ian

It depends where you are in the country, as frogs and toads start back to their breeding ponds much earlier in the south west than they do in the north east. Most toads move on mild damp evenings and cold weather puts them off and they stay put. So there might still be time to get things organised if it is done quickly. The wildlife trust might not help with organising volunteers to run toad road crossing rescues/patrols as several have pulled out because of worries about insurance risks. Here in Derbyshire the Wildlife Trust set up the Toad Save group about 1990 (now the Amphibian & Reptile Group) but pulled out of having anything to do with toad crossings two years ago. We now have to organise the toad patrols on our crossing sites as (groups of) private individuals.The local council highways division will tell us where we can install toad road signs but won't buy any or put them up for us. Our toads usually start moving in March although cold dry weather may put them off till April.

A paper by Arnold Cooke in the recent British Herpetological Society bulletin, suggests that high road casualties could be a significant factor in toad population declines in ponds in vulnerable locations.

Chris Monk

Derbyshire Amphibian & Reptile Group

Richie

I do not know of any group in the Mansfield area that is involved in Amphibians and Reptiles. Most of the information in Notts comes from Shelia Wright at the Nottingham Natural History Museum at Wollaton Hall. She and two others published a book last year on the distribution & conservation in Notts of reptiles and amphibians (Frogs and Friends ú7.50 from the Museum). All three are also members of the Notts Wildlife Trust, so they might know if there are any groups in your part of the county. The phone number at the museum is 01159 153905 if you want to contact her.