Madingley is a village just to the west of Cambridge.Ìý Whilst driving through, shortly after dark in the spring of 1988, I realised that toads (Bufo bufo) were crossing the road, not just one or two but great ‘swarms’ of them.ÌýÌý As well as live toads, my headlights picked out the sad sight of hundreds of flattened bodies.Ìý
Although the village is small the road is used as a ‘rat run’ by motorists.Ìý The peak movement of toads is often shortly after dusk and sadly this frequently coincides with the tail end of rush hour.Ìý I came to realise that on some evenings, almost all of the animals attempting to cross the road were run over. At the heart of Madingley is a beautiful stately home with two lakes, providing a clue to the often asked question: "why did the toad cross the road?"ÌýÌý I am a biologist and wildlife enthusiast, but in 1988 had only a superficial knowledge of toad behaviour (my particular interest was wildlife sounds and sound recording).Ìý I was aware though that toads spend most of their life on dry land but must return to the water in spring to spawn.Ìý Sadly for the toads, roads often cut between traditional breeding lakes and the areas of dry land used for feeding and hibernating during the rest of the year. Male toads have to be at least two years old before they can breed, and females at least three. The majority probably only breed once in their life and it seemed tragic that so many were being killed when they are so close to achieving that objective! Patrolling the wayward toads At first, in 1988, I simply moved animals to the verge that I spotted in my headlights.Ìý I feel that we have a duty of care towards our wildlife and it seemed most uncaring that no one was doing anything to attempt to reduce the huge numbers of casualties occurring so predictably here each spring. So then, rather than just driving through,Ìý I took a torch along and spent increasing amounts of time trying to intercept the toads before they reached the road.Ìý The torch wasn’t really bright enough, so it soon evolved into an old fog-lamp, powered by a car battery mounted on a pull-along shopping trolley.Ìý
 | | Frogwatch: frog/toad crossing sign |
It was lovely and bright but heavy to trundle around and the battery acid used to pepper my trousers with small holes. Once there was a very loud bang during charging when a battery exploded.Ìý We now use burglar alarm batteries instead, so my trousers have fewer holes in them.Ìý It was not long before other people started to join in, particularly after we had publicity in the media (including Blue Peter, the Really Wild Show and Channel 4 News).Ìý My father became my main assistant and moral support. (He regards ‘toading’ as his Lent penance, but it does have the advantage that he can carry on eating sweets guilt free - he would otherwise feel he should give them up for Lent!).Ìý Soon we had a small fleet of trolley-mounted car batteries and bright lights for our growing band of volunteers.Ìý During our best year, 165 volunteers (including numerous children) helped out.Ìý Unfortunately, volunteer numbers have now fallen off considerably.Ìý As well as helping the toads directly, I hope that our project provides a useful introduction to practical wildlife conservation. We also try and raise awareness by having exhibits at local events and giving talks to schools and other organisations. | 
