It seems that the ToadNUTS are not just crazy about Leopard Toads, but they are Tree Huggers too. During the long cold nights, of the Western Leopard Toad breeding season which ran from late July to end of August this year, ToadNUTS spent many hours patrolling the roads and saved literally hundreds of these endangered and charismatic toads from becoming road-kill. After attending the Courage 2 B Cool evening with Lewis Pugh, Suzie J’Kul and Alison Faraday looked at their volunteer’s two month long Leopard Toad road patrols with new eyes.
If all the driving around to rescue Leopard Toads was contributing to global warming, wasn’t it like transferring toads from the frying pan into the fire? So ToadNUTS has started a new tradition. They will plant trees after every toad breeding season in an effort to offset their carbon emissions’ while saving toads each year.
The first annual tree planting event took place on Saturday 23rd October along Silvermine Road and at the entrance to Noordhoek. They planted 15 large Cape Ash trees donated by the City of Cape Town with compost donated by Leopardstone Hill Cottages.
ToadNuts would like to extend a big thank-you to all who helped with the tree planting. They are also putting out the request that people who live in the area keep an eye on the trees and water them over the coming summer months – just until the trees are established.
The next event on the Leopard Toad calendar is the emergence of the tiny toadlets from ponds and wetlands to disperse into the surrounding veld and wild areas in your garden. The toadlets exit on mass, usually early in the morning on a cool damp day anytime from late November to early January. It all depends on how early or late in the season the eggs were laid. The toadlets are tiny, barely as big as your little fingernail and particularly vulnerable at this time to Hadida predation and mowing. If you see toadlets emerging in large numbers, please call Suzie on 0r the Toad Hotline on: