I need help to stop mass toad deaths, asap please

[doggyplop]

hi all,
iv spent the last 2 weeks trying to rescue toads on their migration across a medium busy road to there birth pond.

ive been out in the wee hours picking em off the road and carrying em across, BUT, IM THE ONLY PERSON FROM THE ENTIRE ESTATE trying to stop this mass carnage (from my observations, barely 20% make it across this road).

each night the road is strewn with dead and dying toads, many being large female toads with the smaller male on their backs, its sickening witnessing this slaughter, drivers dont give a damn and all break the 30mph limit, many doing 60mph.
if drivers stuck to the 30mph limit they could easily spot these toads on the road, and avoid em cos most often they would be the only car on the road, partic between 1am to 5am, in fact they would have the time and space to stop the car, get out, and carry the toad across.
but the selfish tossers WONT do this, they just barrel along at up to 60mph on an empty road (with a 30mph limit that is) and kill dozens of toads in a matter of minutes.

between the hours of 9pm and 6am (when the toads cross) the road is not that busy, maybe just a few cars a minute, but just one car can flatten dozens on the half mile stretch, and because sellafield nuclear plant is the main employer around here, this steady drip of traffic never stops, even from 2am to 4am, when most normal roads would be empty.

i try to be out as much as poss in the wee hours but i can not be there all the time, and i am the only xexexexexexe doing this !, even the sods who live alongside the road dont help.

i need the local council to be brought to book over this, amphibians the world over are in major decline, and this carnage happens every year where i am, and the negligent council must be forced to either close this road for a couple of weeks in late march or arrange for warning toad crossing traffic signs and enforce the 30mph limit.

please contact---

Copeland Borough Council
The Copeland Centre
Catherine Street
Whitehaven,
Cumbria CA28 7SJ

Tel: 0845 054 8600

Fax: 01946 598303

Email: info@copeland.gov.uk

the road in question is MIREHOUSE ROAD,MIREHOUSE,WHITEHAVEN, the toads are trying to reach MIREHOUSE PONDS (a well known spot around these parts, and the only real habitat for wildlife in this area)

and tell them they have a duty to stop this slaughter and to inform the local residents and drivers of the situation.

the more complaints they get the better, especially from non locals who can say they will not visit this area as tourists unless this slaughter is stopped.this small town relys on tourism for much income.

please, just a quick call would even suffice, be polite or slag em off, its all good, only a lot of complaints will stop this carnage, and i sure can not rely on the locals on my part council estate (mirehouse estate, it borders mirehouse road), most dont give a damn, in fact, most of em would probably kick a toad to death if they saw one on the pavement.

SERIOUSLY, IM THE ONLY ONE ON THIS ESTATE TRYING TO HELP these noble creatures, and i need help, theres another 2 weeks of toads crossing this road left to run, some stragglers are flattened as late as mid april.

cheers

[davecatt]

Hi
Have you tried contacting the local press?

The news people love this sort of story. You could ask them tp put out a call for help, I'm sure there will be people in the area who care enough to vollunteer if they are informed. Below are a couple of useful links.

BBC NEWS | UK | England | Cumbria | How to contact us

News & Star | Home | Send your news

Good Luck
Dave

[Jim Ford]

How about contacting your local Wildlife Trust and their junior branch 'Watch'. Also try a local Scout or Woodcraft Folk group. I've been on local 'toad lifts' with youth groups.

Jim

[Meta menardi]

I have taught in Whtehaven, some years ago, and the lack of interest doesn't surprise me. It is a town with many beautiful buildings, and some very odd inhabitants ( not everyone by any means, there were some really lovely people there). Good luck with what you are doing, and whilst it is no compensation for the carnage, there will probably be more than enough bred females that survive to keep things going.

[Beekeeper]

I would suggest making up some sign boards saying Frog Crossing or whatever is suitable for the road and placing them at 50 mtr intervals both ways at least 3 each way before the crossing , it might help.

Ian

[dampflippers]

Froglife - conserving native frogs, toads, newts, lizards, snakes
Lots of info on froglife.org about organising toad crossings. You could email or phone them for advice.
Froglife - make contact
There may be a local amphibain and reptile group who could help:

http://www.arguk.org/ Local groups

[dampflippers]

Hi again, Please look in your private messages.

Cumbria amphibian and reptile group will help you, but you need to contact them.
I have put their email and phone numbers in a private message to you.

Let me know when you get in touch.

ps To find private messages, look on he right hand side of the page, under "messages"

[doggyplop]

Originally Posted by dampflippers

Hi again, Please look in your private messages.

Cumbria amphibian and reptile group will help you, but you need to contact them.
I have put their email and phone numbers in a private message to you.

Let me know when you get in touch.

ps To find private messages, look on he right hand side of the page, under "messages"

Thanks all for suggestions, i have contacted the group mentioned above and a meeting will be arranged.

hopefully once some proactive steps have been taken then next years crossing wont be such a bloodbath, ive already spoken to one of the groups mentioned above and they seem to have the infrastructure in place to progress this, more so than i ever could.

ill post back with some results.

cheers all

[dampflippers]

That's great.
You deserve a medal for saving the ones you have saved, but never put yourself at risk with traffic, especially at night. Buy a cheap fluorescent/ reflective vest to help with this.
You may be able to buy reflective strips (for cycling) to stick on your buckets as well.

[doggyplop]

Originally Posted by dampflippers

That's great.
You deserve a medal for saving the ones you have saved, but never put yourself at risk with traffic, especially at night. Buy a cheap fluorescent/ reflective vest to help with this.
You may be able to buy reflective strips (for cycling) to stick on your buckets as well.

Thanks again for your help.your above points are correct, but if a toad is on the road and in the path of a car i often find myself standing in the road to make the car slow down, its the only way to get them to stick to the speed limit.
if they are speeding heavily and do not slow down i flick the v's at them !, if they see it they know they are in the wrong and may think twice about speeding in the future (fat chance, i know!).
however, the police or council should be enforcing the speed limit on this road, its the only road in/out of whitehaven that does not have speed bumps, so many drivers like to stretch their motors and pretend they in formula1.

ALSO, i spoke to sam griffin on the tel no you provided, and he informed me that many toads fall into the road drains, this i was not aware of, and sure enough, i checked 9 road drains this morning, and 2 had live female toads desperately treading water to stay afloat, IS THERE NO END TO THE HORRORS THESE ANIMALS MUST FACE.its so depressing.
i lifted the drain covers and fished em out, but i can not do this every day as well as patrol the road at 4am, 5am etc, im gonna contact sam again for help, but i can not see any volunteers coming out here at these early hours, or will they ?
i shall post back with results.

[dampflippers]

Go to this page on the Froglife website on organising toad partols:

Froglife - conserving native frogs, toads, newts, lizards, snakes
There are lots of useful documents and suggestions including a bit about insurance. (Or ask them to post some out).

Although you want to save them all, you really shouldn't put yourself at risk, or put the driver at risk by having to avoid you on a slippery road in the dark.

Don't forget to keep a count of numbers.

[toadpole]

WOW doggyplop...i commend you i cannot believe people are not interested in helping you ....Here in surrey there are people queuing up to help ....and they build frog /toad and newt fences to help them stay off the roads and they seem to have patrols all hours of the day and night ..they even provide the fluorescent jackets !! it is something i did when my children were small and would do now only i have severe mobility problems i know you are NOT getting the help you deserve at the moment ...but at least you have tried your best and saved SO MANY !!!.and for that you can feel very proud ....and now you know the vast numbers involved in crossing to the pond you mention ... you can plan ahead for next year and get that crossing manned...signposted .... and a list of volunteers to help you .....Good Luck Marion

[doggyplop]

thanx all for comments.

just thought i would post my results so far.

i actually met sam at mirehouse ponds a few days ago, we had a look around and he commented that it must be a fairly big migration going by the pond size and the hill overlooking it (he said thats prob where many come from).

unfortunately there is no one he knows in this area to help me, but maybe next year we will have things in place.

i met sam at 8pm and on my way back home at 9pm i came across 2 hapless female toads sitting in the road, and a dead one.this spurred me into dropping a note about the toads into the letterboxes of 25 houses on mirehouse road, and over the next few hours i saw one guy scanning the road with a torch, but nothing since.this is the problem, finding someone who will make an effort on a regular basis, not just a flash in the pan and then giving up for good cos no toads are seen on the first attempt.

its now april 8th, and toads are STILL getting run over, but only about 3 or 4 on warmer nights, and im only saving about 2 or 3 on these nights.

im wondering how long into april will the stragglers keep coming ?, and if the outside temp is below say 5 degrees celsius, will there be any toads out of bed ? (ive not noticed any at these temps, but then a bit of light rain the next day brings a few out)
what conditions are certain to bring em out mid april ?
i can not wait untill i know for sure that every last one has attempted the crossing, then i can have a kip !
if it rains 2morrow, there could be toads crossing from 9pm to 6am again.

[posie]

Have you had time to contact the press like davecatt suggested in his post above, as I too am sure this would make people aware, and would reach hundreds of locals. Even if it's nearly finished this year, you need help for next year, and the press would have this year's story and do one again in say Feb next year to remind people......,,You've done a good job..WELL DONE..Posie

[dampflippers]

You could also write or phone into local radio. If you are prepared to talk about it on air, this will reach alot of people. Ask the radio station to pass on enquiries to you.
You need to start accumulating names, addresses, phone nos and email addresses of people who are willing to help this year or next year, and defintely register the crossing point with Froglife and find out how to get toad crossing warning signs put up.

If there is a local internet messageboard of any sort, then use that.

Whitehaven News | Home If you havn't already contacted the Whitehaven News, write to them today. It will be more effective if you have some photos of either live toads or squashed toads to send as well.

[doggyplop]

cheers all for comments.

a lot of stuff to do really, i wish i had started earlier.
i shall try to do some of these things, but i think its all to do for next year now, no point whipping up local interest now and then finding people lose interest quickly cos there are not many toads to see now, ive learnt that from my posting notes in houses on the road--cos the busiest part is over people are not interested in coming out to save the odd toad here and there, they expect to see loads otherwise they think there is not a problem.

i reckon the busiest period is over but i would like to have some idea on when no more toads will attempt the crossing.

does proper summer herald the end ?

will i see the occaisional intrepid toad into may ? i hope not, cos i feel obligated to go out on the off chance of getting just one toad out of hot water (at least this is not china and the rest of the far east, where toads, and most other species of animal, inc cats and dogs, are actually boiled alive in hot water before being eaten)

[twitchyt]

Think it would be great if local authorities could put up animal deterring fences along the road sides, if they just saved some of the many animals that die on busy countryside roads it would be worth the massive undertaking of it.

[dampflippers]

Hi again,

If you have been keeping a note of the numbers saved each day, and the weather, this will be a great help next year. If you haven't got a detailed record, at least try to mark on the calendar when you started, and when the peak time was this year.

Whether you carry on I think you have to decide yourself. I don't think you can hope to save every single toad, so may be from now on just go out rainy nights and just during rush hour/ early evening.

It is a good point about people being put off if there aren't many toads to save this year. So may be concentrate on working out a strategy for next year. Register the crossing with froglife, try to get signs put up, and work out how you will organise it if you get volunteers next year. Look out for cheap fluorescent bibs from shops like Aldi and Lidl, find friendly shops to donate buckets or torches etc.

[posie]

Good idea dampflippers about the shops donating, they might even donate the safety bibs.. I suspect that doggyplop is more of a 'hands-on' wildlifer than an 'office work and organising' wildlifer, if this is the case doggyplop, you could ask someone to help you with the stuff you've got to do like approaching organisations, local press and radio stations, TV local news,and subsequently local shops, businesses etc for donations of equipment. It is quite a daunting proposition if you've not done that sort of thing before, and is quite a responsibility on your own, also 'emotional' support really helps.
If I am wrong Doggyplop, please don't be offended, I will stand corrected....but I know that if I was doing it I'd be so pleased for someone to help with the background stuff......Posie..

[doggyplop]

Originally Posted by posie

Good idea dampflippers about the shops donating, they might even donate the safety bibs.. I suspect that doggyplop is more of a 'hands-on' wildlifer than an 'office work and organising' wildlifer, if this is the case doggyplop, you could ask someone to help you with the stuff you've got to do like approaching organisations, local press and radio stations, TV local news,and subsequently local shops, businesses etc for donations of equipment. It is quite a daunting proposition if you've not done that sort of thing before, and is quite a responsibility on your own, also 'emotional' support really helps.
If I am wrong Doggyplop, please don't be offended, I will stand corrected....but I know that if I was doing it I'd be so pleased for someone to help with the background stuff......Posie..

yes this is pretty much correct, well spotted posie !.
last year i just lifted toads on my own whilst angrily cursing society that this crossing was left to rot.
it never occured to me to rally support from other avenues, i only really thought of doing that this year cos i was finding it hard to be out all the time when the toads needed me.

still, i was a bit late getting support this year (only after the busy first 2 weeks of the crossing did i actually post on this site, up until then i was out all hours lifting toads), but next year (if i still reside here) i am determined to ram this crossing down the towns throat, and hopefully the contacts i made now, like sam, can help in that endeavor.

to answer damflipper, numbers crossing are hard to calculate, but myself over the past 3 to 4 weeks have lifted approx 90+ toads, maybe more, i kept no records, but i think i tipped the balance in their favour and maybe rescued more than got done in on the stretch of road i monitored, but maybe others got done eleswhere on the estate and away from my patch.

quite a few cold nights have muddied the waters a bit, so i dont know when the stragglers will cease their arduous journey, but in the right conditions the crossings were constant but spread out over many hours, never really saw more than 3 or 4 try to cross my patch at once, but over a night dozens could attempt the journey.

[posie]

You could also approach local, and maybe even not so local, Scout Groups, Girl-Guide groups etc...in fact any groups, there must be some wildlife groups of some sort in the county.... this would bring in several helpers at a time. Also their leaders would organise with you dates and times and transport and etc. for them to be there. Maybe the council would make the toads an underpass to cross the road, or let the toads have the road, and build a bridge for the traffic, bit much to ask for I know, especially in this financial climate, but it has been done before, and with all the publicity you are going to get, you may attract a benefactor, or maybe several building contractors will each do some work for free.

[davecatt]

Hi
You've done a great job this year. Next year should be better organized now that you've made contact with people who care and have given you good support and advice.

Please at least give consideration to those of us who care by following sensible suggestions.

Why not call the local media? Even if it's too late for this year they can bring public and, more importantly, local government attention to the situation. You could make the point that it would be worth the press following up on the situation next year to see what's been done.

Don't let your hard work and care be wasted especially if, as you say, you may not be there next year to carry it on. Contact the press now and they will be able to put local government to shame by highlighting this years problems,both for you and the toads.

If publicity is a problem for you personally the press will respect that. But if you have doubts about contacting them then let us do it for you. I'm sure we can get a lot of people to email the press and the local council, enough to get the press interested at least,and when the press take interest then so do the local government. And this could be a good time to grab their attention.

Dave
Feel free to PM me if you prefer.

[dampflippers]

Hi Dodggyplop,
This is Derbyshire's record of its toad crossings a few years ago:
http://www.derbyshirearg.co.uk/stati...r_sep_2008.pdf (it will take a minute to open)
It shows the type fo records that are useful- numbers saved and numbers squashed.

The froglife advice sheet here gives a little diagram of the order that things are done when registering a toad crossing:
http://www.froglife.org/FAS/FAS3.pdf (it will take a minute to open too)
Have you already contacted froglife? If not, email info@froglife.org
If you would like me to email them on your behalf, send me your email address in a private message, and I will ask them to get in contact with you.

[doggyplop]

DAVECATT, i very much would like to take you up on your offer.thanks.

ive scanned the froglife pdf linked by damflipper, think im gonna have to phone them as its not clear how to register this crossing.

im also trying to post up bing map images (with my markings of the casualty sites) of the crossing, but i think this site does not allow external images ?
ill pm them to davecatt in that case.

ill get back with more info, but at this stage im not totally sure what to provide, but i think the aerial view of the crossing and street names is a good start, along with some notes by me.

cheers

[doggyplop]

ive sussed the photo thingy, here is a map of the crossing---



the red splats are where the main casualtys are to be found from early march to mid april, busiest time is definately from march 12th onwards until near end of march, during this period many dozens each day will attempt to get to mirehouse ponds, and mirehouse road is their last big obstacle.

however, to get that far they have to negotiate the roads and drains on the way to mirehouse road, the main culprits bieng the drains on the stretch of borrowdale road near lingmell close, and of course the drains on mirehouse road itself.

the full length of mirehouse road is not shown in the picture, its about a half mile long and toads are to be found at least half way up it, but the main crossing is in the stretch shown in the picture and a bit more to the right off shot.