Fussy toads 'need help' to return to breeding ponds
- Published
Migrating toads can travel more than half a mile (1km) during the journey back to their spawning ground
Volunteers are needed to collect migrating toads and move them to safe breeding sites away from busy roads.
Avon Reptile and Amphibian Group said toads are "very fussy" about where they breed and like to return to their ancestral ponds.
Andy Ryder from the group said toads start to move on wet evenings when temperatures exceed 6C and migration can last up to six weeks.
Toad patrols will take place across Bristol, Somerset and Gloucestershire.
Toad patrols
The only equipment required is a bucket, a torch and a high visibility jacket.
Jen Nightingale, UK conservation manager at Bristol Zoo Gardens, said in 2019 the teams "saved more than 8,000" (toads).
Volunteers are needed for toad patrols planned for Fishponds, Chew Valley, Bitton, Portishead, Bath and Compton Martin.
There will also be patrols in Pill, Clevedon, Brewham, Castle Cary, Edington Village, Priddy, Rumwell and Winscombe Hill.
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