You are either already subscribed or there was an error
Your entry has been submitted
Sorry, your entry could not be submitted
Toads Crossing Roads
2009.04.01
An American toad (Bufus Americanus) emerges from under ground on a warm wet spring night.
Click here to add text
An American toad (Bufus Americanus) emerges from under ground on a warm wet spring night.
1
Instinct tells her to head back to the reservoir where she was born. It's time to mate and deposit eggs in the water. She hops off in the right direction.
Click here to add text
Instinct tells her to head back to the reservoir where she was born. It's time to mate and deposit eggs in the water. She hops off in the right direction.
2
Then she comes to the road and has to make her way across. She is not aware of the danger and stops midway to think about things.
Click here to add text
Then she comes to the road and has to make her way across. She is not aware of the danger and stops midway to think about things.
3
A little toad in the road looks like a curled up leaf to speeding drivers.
Click here to add text
A little toad in the road looks like a curled up leaf to speeding drivers.
4
She comes to a big, orange sign. This is new; she's never seen one of these before.
Click here to add text
She comes to a big, orange sign. This is new; she's never seen one of these before.
5
She looks over the edge, but there are no clues.
Click here to add text
She looks over the edge, but there are no clues.
6
She decides to follow the arrow.
Click here to add text
She decides to follow the arrow.
7
Then she notices that there are words printed on the sign.
Click here to add text
Then she notices that there are words printed on the sign.
8
DETOUR. That must stand for "Detour for Emerging Toads of Upper Roxborough", she muses. That's thoughtful!
Click here to add text
DETOUR. That must stand for "Detour for Emerging Toads of Upper Roxborough", she muses. That's thoughtful!
9
So she heads off across the road to the other side.
Click here to add text
So she heads off across the road to the other side.
10
Meanwhile a pickerel frog crosses towards the reservoir. Frogs look very much like the pebbled road.
Click here to add text
Meanwhile a pickerel frog crosses towards the reservoir. Frogs look very much like the pebbled road.
11
He makes his way across a manhole lid.
Click here to add text
He makes his way across a manhole lid.
12
And makes it safely to the other side.
Click here to add text
And makes it safely to the other side.
13
A kind-hearted animal activist, Lisa Levinson, noticed that toads were being run over in the Upper Roxborough section of Philadelphia while they were migrating across busy roads on their way to the reservoir in early spring. She rallied over 100 volunteers and news media in a short period and the Toad Detour Project took shape. We now have spotters and a phone tree and we are waiting for the big migration.
This is really a neat set. Sounds like Lisa is doing her part to help the earth. It takes backbone to fight for things you know are right. Good for her. Will you be there to capture the BIG migration? That would be a sight to see.
Looks like that little toad isn't the ONLY thing stopping in the middle of the street, to think! I can only imagine coming upon a woman laying face down in the middle of the road, with a camera, staring face on with a toad. What a sight that would've been :)
