Science - April 1, 2004
Toads cross the road with help from traffic agents
There’s an unusual traffic sign on a temporary fence that gets placed across the road running to the ferry in Wageningen each evening at 11.30 during March and April. Volunteers patrol along the Veerweg at dawn and dusk to help migrating toads cross the road safely.
Up to now this season the volunteers have helped 300 toads over the road. That is less than half of the 700 last year, and far fewer than the 1900 toads three years ago. The decline may be due to the unusually hot and dry summer of 2003, that there are fewer toads waiting to cross the road this year. Hofman doesn’t know for sure. There may still be a few hundred waiting to come down to the floodplain as the weather turns warmer and hopefully wetter. The traffic agents will continue their work for another few weeks yet. | K.V.