Toads on Roads FAQs: Patrolling

Normally toads are moving from terrestrial habitats to breeding ponds. You can look on Google maps to try to help identify the breeding pond and overwintering grounds (often a woodland). This can help to guide you in which way to move the toads. 

In a small number of cases it isn’t clear as there are habitats on both sides of the road. In this case a judgement call may be needed, with the most important thing being to remove the toads from the road where they are in immediate danger.

Towards the end of the season, toads could be going in either direction (to or from the pond). In this circumstance, if you can’t tell which direction the toad is moving, then move them to the side where the breeding pond is located.

Please read the latest guidelines and FAQs for handling common toads from Froglife and Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK (ARG UK) here:

• Toads on Roads: Guidance and FAQs for handling Common Toads

Yes! The best option is to carry two buckets, one for female toads or toads in amplexus, and one for male toads and other species. This avoids the risk of creating a ‘mating ball’ with large numbers of males clinging to females before they are released.

If you have collected a ‘layer’ of toads in the bottom of your bucket, then you should record what you have and release them on the other side of the road, ensuring you give your records to the patrol leader on the night so that accurate totals can be recorded.

Toads should not be placed on top of each other. Patrol volunteers are reminded that the welfare of the animals on release is as important as their rescue.

• Ensure that all surveyors are aware of disease issues and precautions.
• Arrive at the site with clean footwear and vehicle.
• Ensure footwear is clean (visually free from soil and debris) before you leave the site.
• Ensure vehicle is kept clean – ideally remove accumulated mud before you leave the site.
• Make sure you use any facilities provided on the premises to clean footwear/equipment etc.
• Some sites may already have risk assessments in place so it is important to check for these before commencing field work.

Disinfect boots, waders, nets, buckets and anything else that would be in contact with amphibians or pond water. When disinfecting gear during fieldwork the following will be required: bucket, brush, disinfectant, disposable or washing up gloves (to wear while disinfecting) and bin bags for waste. When making up bleach or disinfection solutions, pond water can be used so long as it contains little or no organic matter (this reduces disinfectant effectiveness).

Follow this procedure:

• Use a brush to scrub off any debris, plant fragments, mud etc and rinse with water (pond water will suffice)
• Disinfect using one of the following methods: Soak in a bleach solution (1 measure of household bleach to 9 measures water) for 15 minutes; OR a disinfection agent (as per supplier’s instructions); currently Froglife uses Safe4 (or Virkon as a second option). Fabrics including those worn while doing amphibian fieldwork can be washed on a 40 °C cycle (with detergent, ensuring sufficient rinsing).
• Nets should be rinsed with clean water and sprayed with a disinfection agent.
• Rinse with clean water and if possible, allow to dry before next use.
• Keep field gear (traps, net frames etc.) inside plastic bags during storage.
  Ideally all used disinfectant solutions should be poured directly into a sink/drain and flushed with clean water. In the field, pour onto an area of hard-standing, or similar un-vegetated area well away from the pond.

If you find any invasive species of animal or plant while on patrol, you need to report it to the non-native species secretariat here and your local wildlife records centre.

Great crested newts and other amphibians can be collected and moved across the road without breaking the law so long as you are removing them from an area of danger where they are at immediate risk of being killed.

This only applies where animals are being moved across the road to an area of safety in the immediate vicinity (confirmed by Natural England, Natural Resources Wales and NatureScot). This does not apply when they are being moved off site to another site (translocation).

Toad migrations can start anytime between late January (southwest England) and late March (northeast England, eastern Scotland) so be sure to check the local weather forecast for the first run of consistently mild (>5°C), wet nights and make sure all Patrollers are prepared.

It will help to have someone nearby or someone who can check the road regularly to inform you when the toads are beginning to move. Websites that may be of use (remember to look at night time conditions): Met Office or BBC Weather

You can also keep an eye on Froglife’s social media accounts to see when reports of toad movements start coming in.

As a general rule, we tend to see toads moving in the South-West first and then moving up and across the country but this is only a rough guide and is mainly based on the weather.

Some patrols want to ensure that as many animals as possible are rescued, others are limited by the number of volunteers on the patrol and the need to have more than one patroller on site from a safety perspective.

Patrols should make their own judgement about the best time to stop on any night – in rural locations traffic is often busier from 5:30pm to 8pm and then again from 10:30pm – 11:30pm but after a couple of nights patrolling, leaders will be able to judge what is best.

If the next day you start with a high count of dead toads, then you’ll get an understanding of whether the patrol should continue for longer in the future.

As the migration progresses, changes in the temperature and humidity can lead to temporary pauses in activity. Particularly cold nights or dry nights will stop the toads moving, sometimes for a day or more and then the migration will pick up again.

If the numbers of rescued animals are totalled each night, there will reach a point when numbers start to decline gradually until they drop to ‘10s’ of animals moving. At this point, you may decide to stop patrolling for the year, but be sure to check in the mornings for a few days to look for any dead animals that would indicate you may have stopped early.

Once you have collected all your records, pass them on to your Patrol Manager who will then submit it to the Toads on Roads Portal 

If you are unable to use the portal, we do have limited capacity to submit your data on your behalf. Fill in a data sheet and send to: toads@froglife.org