Alison Faraday's Blog (6)

After months of planning and conceptualising; designing and editing, the first comprehensive Western Leopard Toad Information Boards were erected at the Noordhoek Farm Village in Cape Town. Our goal is to erect a further 10 sets of these boards around the greater Cape Town area. Suzie and Alison were delighted to see the hard work of the team proudly displayed at last. Although there have been toad boards (at other locations) in the past, our boards are the first to explain how to welc… Continue

There are a large number of conservation organisations doing excellent work in South Africa. Many are run by volunteers who give their time willingly to making a difference to their chosen environments. The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) recognised a communication and networking gap within the conservation world, and decided to take action. On the 12th May 2009, SANBI hosted a networking and funding forum called the CONSERVATION MARKETPLACE. It was he… Continue

A concerned Fish Hoek resident called me before New Year to ask advice about a large leopard toad who seemed to have made a comfortable home in her kitchen drain. Her concern was that the toad was being regularly doused in hot water from the sink waste pipe as well as soapy water from the washing machine outlet. (Toads often make homes in what for us would be the most unsuitable places - drainpipes, gutters, pool outlet pipes and kitchen drains. Some of these homes may even be potentially har… Continue

Tonight saw the emergence of the first toadlets (that we know of) in the Noordhoek valley from one of the vineyard ponds. After several weeks of speculation, we were so excited to see our 'babies' starting their journey into their life beyond the pond. Mark Becker will be posting some footage soon. The toadlets are so incredible small and very hard to see (imagine a 10c piece). We anticipate that the rains of the next 24 hours will see a lot more toadlets leaving the ponds. Please keep a very c… Continue

When we decided to call ourselves the Toad NUTS (Noordhoek's Unpaid Toad Savers), we knew what people might think - but hey, it's what the toads think that counts right (and they seem pretty happy to be saved by people who are a little mad)! So we were chuffed when we were approached by Bobby and Paul from the Toad in the Village Pub (Noordhoek Farm Village) with the offer to auction off the old Nags Head memorabilia as their donation to Western Leopard Toad Conservation in our valley. Cl… Continue

On 6th December, Alison was invited to ride on the Noordhoek float for the eMantzi Carnival, as a Toad NUT representative. It was wonderful to be part of such a community-building event, and we felt honoured to be selected for the work we have been doing for our local endangered resident. Alison accepted a special prize and Suzie and Alison will soon attend a performance of the Nutcracker (appropriate hey?) courtesy of Annelien Dean and the People's Post. Thank you! Next year we hope to b… Continue