Amphibians get help at the roadside

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LADDERS to help frogs and toads escape from roadside drains have been installed in Warwick and Norton Lindsey by volunteers from Warwickshire Amphibian and Reptile Team (WART).

Frogs and toads fall in the drains when they migrate to and from their breeding ponds. Since 2017 volunteers from WART have been rescuing animals from drains at a site in Warwick using nets and buckets. Warwickshire County Council gave permission to install ladders that help animals escape roadside drains.

The ladders were designed by Trevor Rose of The British Herpetological Society to help tackle the problem of trapped amphibians in drains, which often happens where roads are located near ponds.

The ladder consists of a metal base with polyethylene fibre mesh on the top. Animals are able to grip on the material and climb out of drains. This was tested on a number of sites in the UK including Norton Lindsey in Warwickshire and Balsall Common, Solihull and shown in studies to be the most effective means of escape on existing roads currently known.

The real challenge, however, lies in designing new drainage schemes that are less harmful to amphibians by including means of escape from the roads themselves, means of bypassing the drains or avoiding the ‘gully pot’ design altogether.

WART purchased 22 ladders which were successfully installed with the help of Warwickshire County Council’s highways engineers and thanked the engineers for helping to lift the drain covers and allowing the ladders to be installed.

They said they hoped the ladders would reduce the mortality rate of toads and other amphibians that fall into the gully pots. Regular monitoring will be carried out to determine the effectiveness of the ladders at this site.

To find out more about this issue, help with monitoring and rescuing, submit your amphibian and reptile sightings please contact WART at recordswart@gmail.com

Toad population has fallen by more than two-thirds since the 1980s (Froglife).



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