Toad removed from house drain - Fish Hoek

[Alison Faraday]

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 harmful, but for a nocturnal species looking for dark, damp places with a food source such as snails and worms, they seem ideal.)

The toad was a large female - 12 cm - who had experienced some trauma in her life as her right eye was damaged. In order to protect the toad two options were considered. The first was to increase the length of the waste pipes to below the level of the grate thereby protecting the toad from the hot water. The second was to remove the toad and seal off the drain using garden mesh. As the garden provided suitable habitat for the toad and the homeowner insisted on removing the toad, we decided on the second option. The toad was successfully removed from the drain and released into the lush indigenous flower bed.

NB: Make sure to check all your drains for leopard toads - you may find a wonderful surprise! You can then take one of the two actions considered in this case

[Alison Faraday]

If a toad is able to live successfully in a drain, it is not the policy of the Toad NUTS to remove the toad. However, if any harm can come to the toad, it may be advisable to remove the toad to somewhere close by. Please contact us for help if you have a toad in your drain that you are worried about.