Brrrrrr its freezing ! Ok, by historic standards it's not that cold, but by the standards set during this winter, we are currently enduring the coldest period of the season, so far. Anything below 5c and Mr (& Mrs) Toad stay tucked up, either under rocks, vegetation, compost bins, logs etc or resting at the bottom of a pond.
On Monday 22nd February, 14 toads, 3 frogs and 2 newts were rescued from the 'drains of doom', but 5 toads pancakes were unfortunately scraped off the tarmac. Whilst on Tuesday it started to get slightly chilly and only 3 toads needed saving. Meanwhile the count around the main Putland Pond on the same night revealed 139 male toads, plus another 61 pairs clinging together for warmth...and other matters! A total of 261 toads in or around the pond. You may ask why are there no single female toads? Well let's just say that the males spot the females well before they reach the pond and immediately hitch a ride !
However the toads knew that great freeze was coming because on that Tuesday night, many of the toads were resting on the bottom of the pond, whereas on Sunday, when the temperature was 12c, they were happy crawling around on land.
Wednesday night the freeze truly began and it's stayed cold ever since. The next warm night looks to be Tuesday night (1st March), but the weather can be fickle and it might just warm up enough on Monday night, but we will have to see.
What do the toads do when its too cold? They just sit it out, tucked up somewhere out of the cold, as mentioned above, waiting for it to warm up again. They don't eat, indeed their last meal would have been around October last year, so they rely upon their fat reserves to get them through the highly active breeding period and then hope as spring temperatures rise a nice fat slug slithers passed, yummy !
In March 2013 it stayed cold all month and the toads never really got a 'one fantastic night of love', well actually it often lasts for 4 - 5 nights, but you know what I mean, it was too damned chilly !!! It was well into April before night time temperatures rose above 5c. Lots of toads died of starvation and I found many thin skeletal bodies that spring :-(.
So, at the moment the toads have gone to ground, along with the frogs and newts and we wait for a warm rainy night. Toad watchers love rain ;-) , but hate the cold :-(. Time to stay indoors with a nice cup of tea :-)).
P.S. One of the Foal Hurst Wood volunteers, Peter, tells me that the frogs in Foal Hurst Wood have fared a little better and frog spawn has appeared in the main wetland pond, in the middle of the wood. Peter thinks Monday & Tuesday nights were when the main spawning occurred here.
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