The toads will soon be crawling out: especially in the milder regions of Saxony, the first toads could leave their winter quarters as early as the beginning of February and make their way to their spawning grounds. Common toads, for example, can "usually be observed migrating from the beginning of February to the end of April", says Wolf-Rüdiger Große, Chairman of the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (Nabu) Saxony. The migratory instinct is innate in toads. To ensure that the amphibians get from A to B safely and don't get run over on the roads, some people are taking precautions.
Kilometre-long protective fences protect early and late migrants
"Around 300 volunteers work on the amphibian protection fences managed by Nabu Saxony every year," explains Große. Last year, almost 8,000 meters of fence were maintained - for example in the Leipzig area, in northern Saxony, in the Ore Mountains, in Freiberg and in the Dresden region.
"Put simply, there are two types of migration," emphasizes Große. The first group are the early migrants - so-called early spawners. "The spring frog, moor frog, grass frog, newt, common toad and common spadefoot start right after the frost." The late spawners, on the other hand, only follow with the onset of spring. According to current findings, around 17 amphibian species are native to Saxony.
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