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SHEILA GUNDRY : You're walking
down the road and suddenly in

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front of you there's just
something that's a little bit

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higher and you just get your eye
in, you just get used to it and

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you spot that just down there
there's a little frog or a

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little toad.

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MIKE COLLINS: Sometimes it's
quite difficult to spot the

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newts because they're so small
and you start almost

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hallucinating that it's a newt
and actually it's a twig or you

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think it's a twig and it's
actually a newt. And sometimes

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the... the frogs or toads will
hide under the leaves and

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they'll just see their head.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Across
Britain, toads are on the move,

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making their way to the ponds
where they breed. They're

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following the same routes
they've used for centuries. But

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today, many of those routes cut
across busy roads, and many

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never make it. In this episode,
we join a group of volunteers

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who are helping to change that.
I'm Rosie Holdsworth and this is

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Wild Tales, Toad Patrol.

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It's dusk on Charlcombe Lane in
Bath, a narrow road with houses

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on one side and hedgerows on the
other. And tonight it's

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unusually quiet.

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For six weeks a year this road
closes to traffic. Not for

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roadworks, not for flooding, but
for frogs, toads and newts.

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Every February amphibians start
moving through this valley.

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They've spent the winter hidden
away. Now they're heading back

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to the ponds where they breed.
And to reach them they must

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cross this lane. Which is why at
dusk the first volunteer

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arrives.

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MIKE COLLINS: My name's Mike
Collins and I'm one of the

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volunteers with the Charlcombe
Toad Rescue Group. So it's early

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evening in the beginning of
March and sort of the light's

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starting to fade a little bit.
You can hear a green woodpecker

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yaffling in the background and
lots of bird songs. So we're

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starting to get into that time
of day when the amphibians start

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to move.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Mike is one of
60 volunteers who patrol this

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lane every evening during the
migration season.

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MIKE COLLINS: I'm wearing a
high-vis jacket. I have some

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special gloves so that we don't
get any of the sort of chemicals

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on our hands from detergents or
hand wash onto their skin. We

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have buckets for the amphibians
and we have high-powered torches

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as well.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: The idea is
simple. If they spot an

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amphibian on the road, they
gently pick it up, put it in a

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bucket, and carry it to a safe
drop-off point so it can

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continue its journey to the pond
below.

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MIKE COLLINS: When you're
walking down dusk onwards, you

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slowly panning the torch from
left to right and there might be

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20 or 30 frogs and toads and
newts on the road that just

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wouldn't make it if we weren't
here helping them.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Also out on
the lane tonight is Sheila

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Gundry from the conservation
charity Frog Life. Sheila knows

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this stretch well and the
challenges the amphibians face.

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SHEILA GUNDRY : One of the
hazards for the amphibians is

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the cars on the road. But
another issue is there's just so

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many walls. There's so many
garden walls and walls around

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houses. So if the toads, frogs
and newts do get across the

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road, they then can't get any
further. There's only a few

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places they can get through.

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So sometimes they have actually
got across the road, they've

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made it past the cars, and then
they're stuck because there's a

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wall. And for several hundred
metres there's a wall. So in

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those cases we pick them up and
we take them to a suitable

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place.

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As part of the induction for the
volunteers, we show them where

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the best places are so that the
toads and frogs and newts can

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get down as easily as possible.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Volunteers
have been patrolling Charlcombe

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Lane since the 1990s, but it
wasn't until the early 2000s

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that their efforts began to make
a real difference.

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MIKE COLLINS: Charlcombe Lane
has been closed every year

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during the migration season
since 2003. So, the local

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council closed the road for six
or seven weeks every year, which

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has made a real difference in
terms of the casualty rate

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dropping from about 65% to about
3% to 4%.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: All the
volunteers carry three small

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clickers, one for... Toads, one
for frogs and one for newts.

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Each animal safely carried
across the lane is counted and

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the data is sent to Frog Life.

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MIKE COLLINS: So in 2025 we had
3,995, which is our second best

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year ever. And this year we've
had some busy nights already and

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we had over 800 on one very wet
night.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: But for the
volunteers it's not all about

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saving lives.

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MIKE COLLINS: One of our
volunteers described it as

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amphibian therapy. So, you know,
you've had a really bad day at

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work, you've had too much screen
time or too many meetings, or

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you just want to get out and
coming out here, you can just

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feel your stress levels going
down.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: So why are the
amphibians here in the first

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place? Sheila tells us more.

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SHEILA GUNDRY : The amphibians,
the frogs, toads and newts, they

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spend all summer out and about
foraging, just eating. They're

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in people's gardens, they're in
the woods, they're all over the

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place. They spread out a long
way. And during the winter,

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amphibians do what's called
brumation. They brumate and that

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is like a deep sleep. It's not
quite as deep a sleep as

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hibernation. It's more of a
lighter sleep.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: And whilst
they're in their brumation

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period, they need somewhere safe
to shelter.

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SHEILA GUNDRY : A really good
place is a big stack of logs or

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somewhere that's slightly
underground or maybe under your

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shed or something like that.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: And this
shelter has a rather unusual

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name.

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SHEILA GUNDRY : They're called
hibernacula. One is a

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hibernaculum. And then in
January or February, they're

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ready to go. So they start quite
early in the year. They then

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head off to their breeding
ponds. And they've been doing

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this for hundreds and thousands
of years.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: And when they
wake from their slumber, things

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can get a little frantic.

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SHEILA GUNDRY : The toads do get
very, very enthusiastic. The

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males get on to the females. And
sometimes you get several on top

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of each other. And then in the
pond sometimes, if there's not

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enough females, they'll then get
in a bit of a ball and land on

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top of each other, which can be
quite hazardous with the

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females.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: It may sound
chaotic, but it's all part of a

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biological urge to breed.

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SHEILA GUNDRY : Everyone knows
what frog spawn is like and toad

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spawn. Not everyone's seen toad
spawn. It's like a beautiful

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necklace with pairs of eggs
going down. It's lovely. They

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sort of wind it around some
little plants within the water.

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So it takes a little bit to get
your eye in and notice it, but

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once you do, you can see a lot
of it in the pond.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Within weeks,
those eggs will hatch into

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tadpoles, and as they develop
into frogs and toads, some will

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return here to breed, completing
the cycle.

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As the light begins to fade, the
worm moon, the last moon of

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winter, sits high in the sky,
reflected in the breeding pond

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below. And along Charlcombe
Lane... More volunteers begin to

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arrive.

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SHEILA GUNDRY : Hello, hi, how
are you? I'm all right, hello.

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ANGELA: Hello.

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SHEILA GUNDRY : That moon is on
the water, can you see? Just to

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go a little bit round.

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ANGELA: Wow, that is stunning.

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SHEILA GUNDRY : And we've got an
owl going.

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ANGELA: That owl's always here.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Lucy, Lance
and Angela have just turned up

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to help patrol.

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LUCY: It's just nice knowing
that every time you come out, if

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you even pick up two or three
and you feel they haven't got

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squashed, then that's fine,
that's fine for the evening.

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LANCE: It's actually quite
rewarding, especially when

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you're helping out nature. It's
probably been here for hundreds

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of years, long before the cars
and this tarmac lane.

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ANGELA: When it's a warm, wet
night, it's quite exciting

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because you know you're going to
get lots of frogs and toads out.

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So you don't mind it when it's
raining so much, collecting the

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amphibians.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: And just what
can the team expect to see

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tonight?

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SHEILA GUNDRY : So at this site
we get Palmate Newts, common

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frogs and common toads and
that's the three main ones we

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get at this site.

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Frogs tend to be sort of quite
upright or quite a long thin

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head. So the first thing you
notice is this stance, whereas

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toads are very squat and more
flattened to the ground. So

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that's the first thing I would
notice when I'm walking down the

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road.

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And then when you get a little
bit closer the frogs have got a

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very dark patch behind their
ears and that's a really good

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way of telling that they're
frogs and not toads.

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Especially if you're just a pond
and you only see their head and

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you can't see anything else, you
can see that dark patch behind

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their eyes.

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And frogs have got longer legs
and they're quite stripy legs.

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And so they tend to do more
bouncing. So if you walk towards

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an amphibian and it's leapt
away, chances are it's a frog.

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If it's still there, it's likely
to be a toad. Because they're

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more likely to sort of waddle
along and walk, whereas the

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frog's more likely to jump out
of the way.

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We always use gloves to pick
them up so that we don't damage

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them and the little technique
that we use is if you put your

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hand sort of in front of their
nose. So if they leap they leap

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into your hand rather than off
they go so they don't leap and

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we don't damage them when we're
picking them up.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Buckets in
hands and torches switched on,

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the patrol sets off, looking for
the slightest of movements.

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LANCE: A lot of the time, when
you're looking at the wall, you

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look at the cracks in the wall.
That's where they tend to come

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out of.

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It's a perfect hibernation
place, isn't it, a stone wall,

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so it's nice and damp but
protected over the winter

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months.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: It's not just
the cracks and crevices around

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the wall the patrol need to
check in.

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SHEILA GUNDRY : Another hazard
for the amphibians is the

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drains. So the drains are
beautifully designed so that all

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00:10:34,810 --> 00:10:38,752
the water heads down into them.
But if the water's going fast,

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it'll take amphibians with them.
And there's quite a lot of

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drains along Chalcombe Lane.

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So one of the things we do is
just to check that the

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amphibians haven't been washed
down into the drains.

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And then we have special
techniques to get them out if

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they do. But what some patrols
do around the country is they

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00:10:54,745 --> 00:10:57,548
have little amphibian ladders.
You can get a little ladder so

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00:10:57,608 --> 00:10:59,889
that... And at the beginning of
the season, they put the ladders

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in and then the amphibians can
get themselves out of the drain.

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00:11:03,993 --> 00:11:06,415
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: The patrol are
searching anywhere an amphibian

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00:11:06,455 --> 00:11:09,697
may be hiding. And they're
surprisingly well camouflaged,

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as Lance points out.

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00:11:11,719 --> 00:11:15,082
SPK_6: We're looking in the
leaves. And some of the frogs

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00:11:15,142 --> 00:11:19,325
actually are very camouflaged.
They tone in really well with

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00:11:19,326 --> 00:11:23,168
the leaves. So even though you
can have the same species, there

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are lots of shade variants,
which is quite interesting. Some

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00:11:26,993 --> 00:11:31,129
are more... yellowy green and
some are slightly reddy brown.

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00:11:31,930 --> 00:11:33,871
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: The patrol
have been sweeping their torches

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00:11:34,031 --> 00:11:37,732
up and down Chalcombe Lane for
over an hour. So far, they

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00:11:37,752 --> 00:11:40,694
haven't seen a single amphibian.
Perhaps they won't see any

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00:11:40,754 --> 00:11:41,114
tonight.

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00:11:42,154 --> 00:11:42,895
And then...

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SHEILA GUNDRY : Oh, we found a
newt, quick

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LANCE: Trapped in the drain.

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00:11:46,876 --> 00:11:48,517
ANGELA: Here we go.

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00:11:48,518 --> 00:11:51,058
LANCE: On the black pipe there,
in between the ridges.

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00:11:53,399 --> 00:11:56,521
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: A tiny parmate
newt. No more than five

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00:11:56,561 --> 00:12:00,185
centimetres long, caught on a
piece of piping inside the

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drain.

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ANGELA: Do you want to try and
rescue it with the net? So we'll

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help it on its way with a little
net.

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We're just going to try and put
the net right below the........

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Tthe newt.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Angela and
Lance carefully lower the net

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down into the drain.

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ANGELA: It's wedged itself in
between the ridges.

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LANCE: It's moving, it's good,
right?

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: And then the
newt slips from its perch and

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falls to the bottom, just out of
reach.

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ANGELA: Its gone all the way
down. I don't know if I'm going

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to get it.

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This one all the way down.

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LANCE: All right.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: This time the
team can't rescue the newt, but

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they'll come back later tonight
and try again.

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LANCE: All right, on our way
back, we'll check.

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Hopefully it will climb back up.

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SHEILA GUNDRY : And if it
doesn't it'll come back up and

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someone else will spot it.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: In the end,
that tiny newt is the only

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amphibian the patrol will see
tonight. The conditions are just

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a little too dry and a little
too cold. But when the weather

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is right, this quiet lane can
come alive.

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SHEILA GUNDRY : So around the
country, there's 156,277 toads

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were saved last year. So I love
to think of that figure because

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it's someone, somewhere in the
country has seen a toad and

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thought, I need to do something
about this and has picked them

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up and taken them across the
road and saved their lives. And

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that's happened 156,277 times
last year.

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So It's incredible, and it's a
bit of a hidden phenomenon in

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that not everyone's heard of
this, but nevertheless, 156,277

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toads were being saved. So it's
just little groups of people not

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00:13:54,356 --> 00:13:59,298
making a big deal about it, but
they're going out on wet nights

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00:13:59,378 --> 00:14:03,239
in the winter, walking up and
down and saving toads and frogs

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and newts. So, yeah, it's an
amazing thing.

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ROSIE HOLDSWORTH: Thanks for
listening to this episode of

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00:14:21,517 --> 00:14:25,200
Wild Tales. If you'd like to
help wildlife closer to home,

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there are a few simple things
you can do. Even a tiny wildlife

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pond in your garden can create a
home for frogs, toads and newts.

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And leaving a pile of logs or
stones can give them a safe

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place to brumate through the
winter. If you'd like to join a

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toad patrol near you, you can
find more details on the Frog

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00:14:44,353 --> 00:14:48,716
Life website. I'm Ranger Rosie
Holdsworth. Thanks for

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listening. See you next time.