Northampton couple use bath and rain water to raise tadpoles that were in danger

A couple have spent the last two months tending to and raising more than 100 tadpoles in their bath after rescuing them.

David Baker used to live near to the site of the disused hospital in St Crispin's where there was a pond that the local toad population visited every spring to breed.

When the hospital site was built on, a new pond was supposed to be built, but there were hold ups, so the toads found a body of water that had accumulated in the derelict underground car park to lay frogspawn and used it for years.

Earlier this year, a new pond was finally built after a lot of hard work and dedication from local volunteers, including David and Anissa Beale, as well as the Froglife charity who worked to gain approval from the parish and borough councils.

However, toads need natural rain water to be able to lay their eggs and the pond did not fill up in time for this year's spring breeding season.

Despite the low level of water, some toads did lay their eggs in the pond, which left the tadpoles in danger of not surviving, so David stepped in and rescued the newborns.

The 43-year-old who now lives in Grendon, said: “We were expecting the toads to breed in their old water this spring and that would have been fine.

“The rain water would have built up in the new pond for spring 2021, but some toads bred there anyway as there were a lot of tadpoles.

“The water was very low and they were being picked on by crows, so we took a lot of tadpoles home.”

To stop the tadpoles from losing oxygen and dying, David took them home and him and his partner, Kelly, spent the next two months looking after them.

The couple kept the tadpoles in containers in their bath, which they had to fill with natural rain water from their outside water butt.

David added: “We have to feed them every couple of days and change the water.

“It has been stressful hand raising the toadlets, but in a good way.

“We have been able to see them develop, which has been fantastic, especially to be of service to the tadpole population.

“A few of them have not made it, but I would say around 90 percent of the ones we brought home are now being released.”

After two months of looking after the tadpoles and watching them become toadlets, which are still as small as a thumbnail, David is now in the process of releasing them.

Once they become toadlets they have to go back to living on dry land and will then only visit water during the breeding season, so David has taken them back to the St Crispin's area where the new pond has been built.

The couple has already released around 160 toadlets and only has around five left to release.

“We will release those five in the next couple of days,” David continued.

“We will finally be able to sit back, relax and use our bath again in the knowledge that the future of the population is secured.”

James McAdie, Froglife operations manager, the charity that helped to build the pond, added: “This has been a fantastic collaborative project that has succeeded in its aim to save the Toads of St Crispin's with the creation of a new breeding pond and enhanced terrestrial habitat.

“Thanks to the perseverance of Anissa, David and other members of the local community and our partnership with Northampton Borough Council, Froglife has created a pond that has seen toads successfully breeding in its first year.

“We look forward to seeing this vital wildlife pond develop over future years and maintaining our relationship with all who have taken part.”

Find out more about Froglife here.

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