Saving the toads of Toadmorden!

The Todmorden Toad Rescue Group aim to reduce the number of toads being killed on the roads and are on high alert during this time of year.

Andrew Tilsley, co-ordinator of the Todmorden Toad Rescue Group, said: “Each year, between early March and mid-April, many of the roads in our area are used by toads, frogs and newts as they migrate to their ancestral breeding ponds.

“They follow the same route, regardless of what gets in their way, and this often leads them onto roads, and in any battle between a toad and a car, there are no prizes for guessing who comes off worst.”

The charity Froglife has been running the Toads on Roads project for over 20 years and has documented over 880 toad migratory crossings in the UK. Several of these are in the Todmorden area including, Woodhouse Road, Lumbutts Road, Dobroyd Road, The Mount, Cross Stone Road, Heather Bank Road in Walsden and Portsmouth Dam in Cornholme.

This year the group are on high alert as the roadworks on Shaw Wood Road have made the toad’s route particularly hazardous.

Traffic is now diverted down Woodhouse Road, towards Mankinholes and Lumbutts, right through a major toad crossing and is putting both toads and toad volunteers at greater risk.

Andrew said: “The toads tend to be most active on warmer nights, often when there is light rain. Rather than ‘crossing the road’, they are typically walking up or down it, as the road is often the most direct route for them.

“So please be extra careful when driving at night, for the sake of both the toads and of the volunteers working hard to protect them!”

For more information visit www.froglife.org/toadsonroads