Friday 24 March 2017

Wind in the Willows 2



Meet Toad  aka die Krote
alongside his travelling companions die Molche

My German teacher, Herr Reinhold Scheible is part of the group of volunteers that every morning and evening, for about 6 weeks, collects the toads who have been stopped from crossing the road on their way to a breeding pond.

And this is just up the road from me. I usually walk Bear there in the mornings. AND Herr Scheible used to live in Lampertsweiler (where I am) and moved to Braunenweiler (where Georg and Margot live).

So I was pleased to be able to go with him this morning, although as it has been very cold again only a couple were collected.
A Barrier is put up
So the toads are not run over 
Their progress is blocked.
They are taken across the road
and hide from the crows till night

And all of this happens just to right of screen!
The view from my balcony


And so does this! Imagine my surprise and delight.


A shepherd had parked there overnight and then moved on. When I mentioned it to Georg he, of course, knew the shepherd. Thank heavens I saw them. They came and went very quickly. Most of the fields you see have had tractors on them during the last week so the sheep would not have had access to them. I was very excited to see them, and so was Bear. It enlivened his stroll no end!




7 comments:

  1. marty just registered me to reply.several other replies never got through.wonderful blog.very pleased you are living your dream.bear doing you proud.fascinating set up/lifestyle. love your car.

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  2. Alexa, would like you to make an offer to the toad road blockers and carriers to come here to the Top End and adapt their appraoch so they corral and then nuke cane toads, thereby saving many other species. Loving the pics, all very rural. Do you have a staff yet, or a smock? Are all sheep run on public land? Are they any that are paddocked on land held by their private owners? Do those using public land make some sort of annual payment to a public authority?

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  3. Amazing that they would do that. Is this road endangered? And some one sets up a toad barrier?

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  4. I am not sure if Toad is endangered as a species but Reinhold was pleased that each year there were more Toads. They only do this as the Toads travel to a lake to mate. They do not do it when they return. And yes, they are run over.
    I did explain the cane toad problem and that we encouraged the running over of them.
    And I think Miriam that if we could build both a rabbit and a dingo fence we could build a toad fence.

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    1. Toad fence? I like your thinking. Will mention it to new WA government. Interesting to ponder the future of the landscape if the shepherds cease. There's a fascinating book 'The Biggest Estate on Earth:how Aborigines made Australia'by Bill Gammage which considers similar concepts here.

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  5. Loving Kermit, mole and toad reports......please can we have Bear reports 😊😊???? How's he doing?

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  6. Alexa, great pics it looks beautiful. More Bear reports would be lovely. How are you coping with the food I would imagine quite well.... Love your blog.

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