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MOTORING 066
HOP IT!
Local drive to help declining common toad from getting squashed on our roads, plus classics on show
T
hroughout March this year volunteers all over Kent gave up their evenings to patrol up and down the county’s busy country roads saving the declining common toad
from getting squashed by rush hour traffic. Common toads as well as our other UK amphibians, frogs and newts, are key to keeping freshwater habitats healthy. They provide food for a lot of other wildlife and they also help to control numbers of insect larvae and slugs, which make up a large part of their diet.
At the end of February/beginning of March,
toads, frogs and newts all head towards ponds and other water bodies to breed – they are focused and driven by instinct! Humans have created barriers with a continual increase in roads and by filling in many ancestral ponds through developments, so not only do amphibians battle with declining habitats, they are also getting squashed by cars, and their remaining ponds are getting polluted by road and agricultural run-off. Froglife along with Kent Reptile and Amphibian Group (KRAG) coordinate patrols all over the county where there are toad hotspots, known as toad crossings. Toad patrols don’t just help wildlife they also bring a community together and get people out for a healthy walk on a nice early spring evening. “There is nothing better after a stressful day at work than to walk around in the peace and quiet looking at the stars and saving toads on roads,” said a volunteer patroller. • For more information, visit
www.froglife.org or email
toadpatrolcoordinator@gmail.com
Give it some welly at Kent Life country fair and classic vehicle show
Centuries of Kent farming traditions will be celebrated on Father’s Day weekend (17th-18th June) at the Country Fair and Classic Vehicle Show at Kent Life Heritage Farm Park at Sandling, near Maidstone. There will be hands-on rural challenges for adventurous dads and their families, including grooming and feeding livestock and meeting a working sheep dog. There’s even
a chance to learn how to drive a tractor. Visitors will be able to vote for their favourite vehicle from the stunning display at the Classic Vehicle Show.
• Kent Life is open from 10am- 5pm, last admission 4pm. For admission prices and more information, visit
www.kentlife.org. uk or call 01622 763936.
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