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8th March 2024Toad Patrol is (apart from a children’s TV series) a project run by the charity Froglife to help toads cross the road safely in late winter and early spring. Toads are not the most fast-moving of creatures, and when they are migrating to breeding ponds at this time of year, many unfortunately end up as roadkill.
Why are toads important?
Toads are an important part of the ecosystem, and they are useful pest controllers in your garden, eating slugs, snails, and insects. Toads also provide food for wildlife such as hedgehogs, weasels, stoats, crows and magpies, although they have fewer natural predators than frogs due to an unpleasant tasting chemical secretion.
Unfortunately, the number of common toads in the UK has dramatically declined over the past 30 years. This is partly due to habitat loss as more areas become urbanised or farming methods change. Climate change is also a factor, causing hibernating creatures to emerge too soon when there is not enough food available.
Another threat to toads is habitat fragmentation, particularly new roads that are constructed between hibernation areas and breeding sites. Other new developments such as walls, fencing, and buildings can also cut them off or endanger them while trying to reach a breeding site.
Why do toads need help to cross the road?
Toads tend to instinctively return to their ancestral breeding grounds from early February to April, depending on weather conditions. Typically, nighttime temperatures need to be above 5°c for toads to start moving out of their hibernation site at dusk. Toads prefer to overwinter on land, often in woods or wildlife meadows.
Toads are particular about where they breed, and will sometimes travel up to three miles to a pond and take the same route as a previous year, no matter if this means crossing roads. Toads cannot hop and jump as well as frogs, and are more likely to walk or crawl slowly.
They rely on puffing themselves up and secreting unpleasant substances to deter predators, but unfortunately this method is not helpful when it comes to dodging traffic. Every year, thousands of toads are run over when attempting to cross a road. Marked declines in toad numbers have been noted at crossing sites around the UK.
Toads on Roads project
In response to the problem of toad traffic accidents, the charity Froglife set up the Toads on Roads project. This is a coordinated nationwide effort to monitor crossing sites and help toads safely reach the other side during the migratory season.
Local toad patrol groups schedule a rota of volunteers to monitor the road at peak crossing times, which tend to be mild wet nights between early February and and early April. Volunteers are armed with buckets to place toads in and carry them safely to the other side of the road so that they can continue their migratory journey.
Official migratory routes are registered with local councils and highway authorities, which makes them eligible to have an official ‘toad crossing’ warning sign installed. This can help to alert drivers to crossing amphibians and encourage them to stop if it is safe to do so. Members of the public are welcome to request that new sites are registered.
How to become a toad patroller
Toad patrollers are part of a group of volunteers who will monitor a stretch of road at a crossing site during the migratory season. It is not necessary to commit to a large number of patrols as you will be on a rota with other volunteers, although you will need to be available in the early evening at least some of the time between February and April.
During a patrol, volunteers wear reflective vests and carry or wear a torch. When they spot a toad at the side of the road, they will pick it up gently and place it in a bucket and carry it over to the other side of the road. The toad is then released and will naturally make its way onwards to the breeding pond.
The toads tend to start moving at dusk on wet and mild nights when the temperature is above 5°c, so check the weather forecast before setting out. The toad patrollers record how many toads they have helped to cross the road and how many dead toads they have seen. They also report how many days they patrolled and how many others patrolled at the same time.
Froglife will use this data as part of their national monitoring programme to help assess the overall state of the UK’s toad population. It’s important to make a risk assessment before taking part in patrolling activities, and do not take part if you have any concerns about the safety of the road or any other safety concerns.
Children under 18 and vulnerable persons must be accompanied by an adult and reflective clothing and torches should be used at all times. Patrol groups will be provided with free insurance if they carry out a risk assessment and ensure that every patroller has read and signed a Health & Safety form declaration and returned it to Froglife.
Patrol managers should visit the site during the daytime before the season starts to check how easy it is to access, and to cut down any overgrown vegetation at the side of the roads. When walking along the roadside, try to walk in groups and on the side where you will be facing the oncoming traffic.
Patrol leaders should arrange a meeting point away from the main road, such as a layby or carpark. They should count the number of volunteers in and out at the end of the session, and ensure everyone is dressed appropriately and carrying a torch. To find out more about volunteering for your nearest Toad Patrol, visit the Froglife website.
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