TOAD SAFETY.

Although the Common Toad is a widespread species in Britain its population is in decline, which has led to it being listed as a Priority Species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.

The main threats to toads in the UK are the loss of breeding ponds and disruption of migration routes.

Road building and development have created many obstacles for toads travelling to their breeding sites, as well as the loss of these ponds as a result of house building and other developments.

A new report also suggests that frogs and toads are vanishing in Britain because garden ponds have fallen out of fashion, with people filling in existing ponds as they are considered too messy or too much work and housing developers, designers and landscapers are not incorporating new ones in their plans.

The RSPB said information gathered from its annual Big Garden Birdwatch, which also asks people about what other wildlife they see in their gardens, showed a decline in sightings of the amphibians.

This year, toads were seen in 15 per cent of gardens and outdoor spaces, down from 28 per cent a few years ago.

Creating a small pond, with an adjacent wood and stone pile for refuge, in your garden could make all the difference.

And surprisingly, unlike a lot of amphibian species, Common Toads like ponds with fish.

This is because Common Toad tadpoles are poisonous to fish, which gives them a greater chance of outcompeting frog tadpoles.

They continue to be able to secrete toxins as adult Common Toads, which obviously deters a lot of predators, with the exception of hedgehogs, stoats, weasels, rats herons and corvids such as crows and magpies.

And if they manage to avoid these critters, they can, rather impressively, live up to 20 years.