Frogs and Toads on the Road
by Our common amphibians are at danger from speeding traffic on the roads.
Toads breed a little later – sometimes into early March – but their migrations can be even longer and considerably more hazardous. There is one English village where the residents turn out with buckets and torches and help the toads on their nocturnal travels by picking them up and carrying them across a busy road.
The toad’s spawn, which is produced in long double ribbons, is often laid amongst frog spawn from the previous month and it is not uncommon to find both together in the same pond.
As the weather becomes warmer and the days stretch out, the spawn will develop until reaching the stage where little tadpoles wriggle out of the jelly. Although facing danger from a host of aquatic predators, many of the tadpoles will survive to the stage where legs are grown and the tail begins to shrink.
In June the froglets will start to make the transition from water to land and it is at this stage that they are at their most vulnerable. Sometimes their numbers can be quite staggering. I remember a couple of years ago walking around a pond on Cowden Estate near Dollar and having to place each footstep with great care to avoid trampling little frogs at every stride. That pond was created as part of a Japanese Garden and had evidently provided exactly the right conditions for breeding amphibians as it also harboured toads and newts.
Before making the reverse migration to their hibernation sites, both frogs and toads will run the gauntlet of a host of natural predators. They are also at risk from the ravages of the chemical warfare which the human race wages upon wildlife.
Not only do insecticides kill many of the insects upon which frogs live; in common with other amphibians they partly breathe through their skins and are very susceptible to poisoning if any agricultural chemicals or pesticides get into their water catchment.
Even the gardener can unwittingly play a part in the slaughter. Toads, in particular, love to eat slugs. Unfortunately they will consume dead slugs which have been poisoned by slug pellets and they, in turn, will die from the effects of the deadly chemical. So please, gardeners, if you have any reason to think that toads visit your garden, leave the slug control to them. They will, indeed, do a much better and safer job than a sprinkling of poisonous pellets.
Meantime, perhaps more local authorities would like to consider erecting warning signs on the roads at places where frogs and toads make their crossing. After all, we can’t expect those creatures to read the Highway Code.
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