Tim Matthews is one of my best friends, and also - coincidentally - one of the most controversial figures in contemporary forteana. He has been involved with the CFZ for nearly a decade now, raising eyebrows wherever he goes.“To dream of toads signifies unfortunate adventures. To kill a toad in a dream foretells that your judgment will be harshly criticised.”
A North Lancashire back garden many years ago and a scene of English domestic bliss as I mowed the back garden. It was a small plot but we’d managed to install a pond at the back of the space in to which we tried to encourage as much wildlife as possible. On automatic pilot, the no brain zone that accompanies mowing activity, I was suddenly jolted out of my stupor as a large Natterjack toad appeared, as if by magic, right in front of the blades. It was a male, if the markings were anything to go by (the females are normally much brighter).
I thought I’d cut the friendly toad but, as luck would have it, for me and him, I’d missed by millimetres. Sighing with relief I slowly made my way around to my new found friend and lifted him towards the pond. He didn’t seem to be moving – almost transfixed or, more likely, in shock – but after a few minutes he carried on. It occurred to me, and not for the first time, that people are the biggest threat to the many and varied creatures we find ourselves living with. In the countryside where I lived, it was sad to see the many animals killed on the roads but it was difficult to know what to do about it.
Today, despite man’s continued danger to wildlife everywhere, technology is being used to assist birds, elephants, endangered species and, now, our population of toads. From high technology to low, from supercomputers to the family down the street, it seems that all are welcome in the effort to protect them. Once upon a time toads were associated with everything from magic, folklore, the devil and fairies to female sexuality.
At the annual Toad Fair, formerly held in Dorset every May, charms and potions based on the amphibian’s “magic powers” were sold.Until the 1930s in Cambridgeshire, for example, local toad-a-mancers proclaimed their magic powers. Happily, much of this nonsense has been overtaken by the real power derived from a silicon chip and recent events include the ever popular Google Earth programme having Britain’s 700 Toad Crossings added to it. Log in; access Toad map!
Yes, indeed, toads cross roads and tracks at certain points for approximately six weeks a year. Teams of local volunteers – highly active and enthusiastic in the cause – work to ensure that, on average, between 400 and 1,000 toads in a defined area make it from A to B in safety. Dick and Suzanne Downer, from a Devon-based Toad Patrol unit tell that, in just one night, they have helped no less than 250 toads. In total they might expect to come across 1500 in a season. Their biggest challenge? Dealing with impatient and angry motorists. (Nothing new there then. Toad Rage!)
Nationally, in 2008, another 36 crossing sites were added to the database. Not only do the crossings assist the toads but scientists can more easily survey their overall numbers:
"Google Earth software is allowing wildlife experts to use new creative ways to communicate important conservation issues to an increasingly techno-savvy public," says Jules Howard, Froglife's Head of Communications. (See, Froglife website)
We know that 35,000 toads were carried across Britain’s roads in 2008, and now, using available technology, volunteers and scientists hope that the better picture they are producing of toad activity nationwide will assist Highways officials access better information on local populations.
Next time you’re driving along a road perhaps you might check out the database first and think a little bit harder whilst moving through the Amphibian Zone...
I thought I’d cut the friendly toad but, as luck would have it, for me and him, I’d missed by millimetres. Sighing with relief I slowly made my way around to my new found friend and lifted him towards the pond. He didn’t seem to be moving – almost transfixed or, more likely, in shock – but after a few minutes he carried on. It occurred to me, and not for the first time, that people are the biggest threat to the many and varied creatures we find ourselves living with. In the countryside where I lived, it was sad to see the many animals killed on the roads but it was difficult to know what to do about it.
Today, despite man’s continued danger to wildlife everywhere, technology is being used to assist birds, elephants, endangered species and, now, our population of toads. From high technology to low, from supercomputers to the family down the street, it seems that all are welcome in the effort to protect them. Once upon a time toads were associated with everything from magic, folklore, the devil and fairies to female sexuality.
At the annual Toad Fair, formerly held in Dorset every May, charms and potions based on the amphibian’s “magic powers” were sold.Until the 1930s in Cambridgeshire, for example, local toad-a-mancers proclaimed their magic powers. Happily, much of this nonsense has been overtaken by the real power derived from a silicon chip and recent events include the ever popular Google Earth programme having Britain’s 700 Toad Crossings added to it. Log in; access Toad map!
Yes, indeed, toads cross roads and tracks at certain points for approximately six weeks a year. Teams of local volunteers – highly active and enthusiastic in the cause – work to ensure that, on average, between 400 and 1,000 toads in a defined area make it from A to B in safety. Dick and Suzanne Downer, from a Devon-based Toad Patrol unit tell that, in just one night, they have helped no less than 250 toads. In total they might expect to come across 1500 in a season. Their biggest challenge? Dealing with impatient and angry motorists. (Nothing new there then. Toad Rage!)
Nationally, in 2008, another 36 crossing sites were added to the database. Not only do the crossings assist the toads but scientists can more easily survey their overall numbers:
"Google Earth software is allowing wildlife experts to use new creative ways to communicate important conservation issues to an increasingly techno-savvy public," says Jules Howard, Froglife's Head of Communications. (See, Froglife website)
We know that 35,000 toads were carried across Britain’s roads in 2008, and now, using available technology, volunteers and scientists hope that the better picture they are producing of toad activity nationwide will assist Highways officials access better information on local populations.
Next time you’re driving along a road perhaps you might check out the database first and think a little bit harder whilst moving through the Amphibian Zone...
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