Like most wild creatures, the Western toad (Hlk’yáan K’ust’áan in the Gaw Tlagée Xaad kíl dialect; source Xaad Kíl Née) likes its privacy, away from the attention of people and predators. But on Haida Gwaii, human attention may be exactly what the indigenous amphibian needs. That’s why a program called the Haida Gwaii Toad Community Monitoring is asking for your help.

The volunteer-led initiative wants to know where the toads breed and how many are in the population so they can be better protected. Anecdotal evidence suggests that some populations on Haida Gwaii may have declined, so it’s important to track the populations to learn if they are indeed in danger and to identify the threats. Toad populations are monitored in Gwaii Haanas but nowhere else on the islands until this year. There is one other known site on Moresby Island, and at least nine sites on Graham Island; some are on protected conservation land, but many are not. The initiative is looking for other locations where toads breed.

It's as simple as counting the adult toad breeding populations during the one- to two-week breeding period every spring. If there is a marked decline in numbers over a fiveyear period or more, that’s an ominous sign. On Graham Island, the start of the breeding period varies annually, ranging from the beginning to the end of May.

It's also useful to monitor the number of tadpoles every year, when they emerge, and where the toadlets travel. Threats to toads include raccoons, which skin toads alive, roads and disease. One of the largest threats to toads is the destruction of their breeding sites. Toads are a bit like salmon and are very loyal to their breeding sites.

Much of the toad monitoring work on Graham Island has been led by scientist Roseanna Gamlen-Greene, from Aotearoa, New Zealand, who began her research on amphibians here in 2017. She hopes that Haida Gwaii residents can continue to take up the work she started. Over 30 local volunteers helped this year.

The toad census data is being entered on iNaturalist so that anyone can download and use the information in the future. So, if you see toad eggs, tadpoles, or adult toads, you can set up a free iNaturalist account and enter the information in the iNaturalist Haida Gwaii Toad Community Monitoring project. To find out more about the project and how you can help, visit the website www.haidagwaiitoads. weebly.com. You can play a part in the protection of a unique Haida Gwaii inhabitant.

How We Found Them
By Margo Hearne

We met as planned at the toad breeding site. We were a group of three; Roseanna, Matthew and myself. The evening was calm and birds sang all around us. How do we find toads?

“We have to listen,” said Roseanna. “The toads have a particular call when breeding. It’s not very loud so we have to be quiet.” We separated and eased around the perimeter of the pond, looking and listening. Two red-legged frogs popped up, tree frogs sang their peculiar ‘ribit, ribit’ but there was no sign of toad.

“Let's go this way,” Roseanna suggested. “This is where we’ve heard them before.” We tried not to snap the dry alder branches underfoot as every sound carried in the stillness. Then, back from where we had been, a strange, non-bird sound. It was a bit like a fast, quiet wak-wak-wak all in one pitch and it came from a small, shallow, grassy patch in the water. The grass began to shake gently. Our leader crept forward excitedly and waded towards the moving sward and then stopped, pointed downward and with her cellphone recorded both the sound and action of singing toads. We had found five breeding pairs in the quiet evening. We listened for a while then slipped away to let them get on with their own amphibious lives.