Volunteers across the Wrexham area are stepping in to help hundreds of migrating toads safely cross busy roads during their annual spring journey to breeding ponds.
Each year, as temperatures rise, toads (and some newts) emerge from hibernation and begin travelling back to the ponds and reservoirs where they were born to mate and lay eggs.
But on routes such as Ruthin Road in Wrexham, many risk being killed by passing traffic.
Local wildlife lovers Ella Naomi, Teri Davies and Becky Phoenix have joined forces to organise volunteer patrols helping the amphibians safely reach the other side.
For all three organisers, caring for wildlife has always been a big part of their lives.
Ella, who helps coordinate patrols at Brymbo and Ruthin Road, said she has always had a passion for animals and felt compelled to act after discovering large numbers of toads on the road three years ago.
“I’m always saving animals,” she said. “I like to give a voice to those that can’t speak up for themselves.”
She contacted wildlife charity Froglife, which supports official toad patrol sites across the UK, and what began as a small effort has since grown into a community project.
“It’s like a mass migration, they cross over by the hundreds,” Ella said. “Because the roads are so dangerous, the poor little things get squashed.”
Since then, the patrols have attracted between 30 and 50 volunteers, who head out at dusk wearing high-visibility jackets and carrying torches and buckets to carefully help the toads across the road.
“In the last two weeks we’ve already seen about 900 toads on the Brymbo site alone,” Ella added. “By the end of the season it will be thousands.”
Teri Davies, who helps run the Brymbo patrol, said she and Ella first met while independently trying to rescue toads during the migration.
“We literally bumped into each other on a rainy night picking them up,” she said.
“You couldn’t weave through them, there were that many.”
Teri said she has always loved wildlife, recalling how she used to bring animals home as a child.
“I was the kid who would bring home every animal I found,” she said. “If there was a baby bird or something that needed help, I just wanted to look after it.”
Volunteer Becky Phoenix, who is currently completing a phD in environemntal economics and coordinates patrols at Llandegla, said helping the toads can be surprisingly rewarding.
“You’re literally picking a toad up off the road, putting it in a bucket and carrying it safely across,” she said.
“It sounds simple, but at the end of the night you know you’ve saved a life.
“They’ll never know what you’ve done for them, but you know you’ve helped and that feeling is incredible.”
Becky explained that migration season usually runs from late February until around May, depending on weather conditions, with the amphibians responding to temperature and moisture before beginning their journey.
“As the toads cross from their homes to the reservoir, they’re getting run over by traffic because people simply aren’t aware they’re there,” she said.
“But if each of us plays a tiny part, together it makes a huge difference.”
Organisers say the patrols are not only about saving individual animals but also about protecting an important part of the ecosystem.
Toads help control pests such as slugs and snails and also provide food for birds and mammals, making them a key part of the natural food chain.
The volunteers are now encouraging drivers to slow down during migration season and are appealing for more people to get involved with the patrols. If you would like to help out, contact Ella Naomi, Teri Davies or Becky Phoenix on Facebook.
“It’s only a few weeks of the year,” Ella said. “If people can slow down and be mindful, it could save so many lives.”
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