The familiar and throaty snoring chorus of the Western Leopard Toad has returned to the Kom with an almighty skop at one of their breeding sites after a two-year hiatus.
Last night, they had quite the breeding season launch jol, or so it seemed, which is good news for the Leopard Toad monitoring group of KRRA who were very worried that we had lost the croaky cohort and their comforting cacophony.
Well they are back, and arriving in force at Skilpadsvlei to breed after vanishing into the sunset for two years. The action is mostly taking place in the reeded pond between Benning Drive, Kelp Road and Arum Road.
Our enviromentalists and natural historians on KRRA are very excited about the development. The Leopard Toad monitoring group says its a huge relief. Three members of the group, headed by John Cuthill, recorded and photographed 93 toads last night, which didn't include at least 25 toads frolicking in the water.
If this was a human event, there'd be a glitter ball, frenetic dancing, frizzy hair and leopard skin tights, not to mention bad 80s disco music and lots of sweaty cuddles in shadowy corners.
"It was quite an extraordinary experience," Cuthill said of the party (the toad one naturally).
Most people know what a Leopard Toad looks like, but do you know what a Leopard Toad sounds like? Have a listen below. Thanks Margie Jarvis for this video from yesterday, overlaid with two recordings made this morning.
At and around the breeding sites in August, the males call to attract females, and at night will leave the water and sit in open patches of ground, including roads, waiting for females. They often sit still for long periods, which is when they are most vulnerable. They won't necessarily move if you are approaching on foot either, so make sure you have a torch to avoid a very nasty squishy accident.
Drive carefully, particularly on roads around Skilpadsvlei. They're here after living out of the water for much of the year, chilling in private gardens, parks and open bush land. They are most active from late July to September, but especially during August, when large numbers of adults go on the move to congregate in and around water bodies to breed.
When you first hear that loud, rhythmic, guttural snoring sound, you will know that they are about to start moving towards water, where they will mate and lay their eggs.
Many Western leopard toads are killed in August as they make their way through or over garden walls, pavements and roads to get to their breeding sites. When driving at night, look out for the toad road signs warning you of toads in your area. Drive slowly and watch out for reflective white stones on the road, which will probably be toads. Their throats are white and reflect car lights.
Put your hazards on, stop on the side of the road, and if the road is clear remove the toad and place it on the other side of the road in the direction it was going. Don't take them to the breeding pond. That may not be where they were going. Put them in a safe area close to where you found them in the direction that they were to prevent a delay in the great procreation.
You should also be careful in November when the young toads are making their way back from the water to land after growing up as little tadpoles following their mom laying thousands of eggs in gelatinous strings.
The development of the eggs into tadpoles and then into baby toads (metamorphosis), takes more than 10 weeks. The tiny 11 mm long toadlets leave the water in October-December in their thousands. However, very few of them reach adulthood and most fall victim to predators and other threats. Like all toads, western leopard toads devour many insects and are useful pest controllers.
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