'Toad Patrols' on Cumbria's roads as annual frog, toad and newt migration begins
Road users across Cumbria are being urged to slow down for the next few weeks as the annual frog, toad and newt migration gets underway.
Every year, amphibians move from winter hibernation spots to their breeding ponds and lakes. Their routes have been used for generations - many risking their lives crossing busy roads.
They only move when the weather is just right, waiting for nights with mild and wet conditions. When that happens, they move en-masse, and hundreds can die each night.
Staff at the West Cumbria Rivers Trust are doing 'toad patrols' on wet evenings - when the animals are most likely to move. They will be carrying frogs and toads in buckets from dangerous roads to the ponds they are heading for.
In just two nights (March 9 and 10), the team rescued almost 80 animals at a popular crossing point on the A591 just south of Keswick, near Low Nest Farm.
Species helped in the Trust's rescues include common toad, common frog, smooth newt and palmate newt.
Froglife and the University of Zurich estimate that the UK common toad population has declined by 68% in the last 30 years.