“It was heartbreaking to see all these amphibians crushed on the road.
» Christelle Bès decided to take action.
She asked the town hall if on a 300 meter portion of the Route de la Noue traffic could be cut off only at night to save the amphibians during the reproduction period.
The municipality agreed, provided signs and barriers but set one condition.
“The mayor told us that it was up to us to close the road at 7:30 p.m. and open it at 7:30 a.m.,” smiles Charly Thomassin, Christelle Bès’ companion who also embarked on the amphibian adventure.
A diversion allows you to easily bypass the closed section of road.
The operation, which began just a week ago (Saturday March 2), will continue for a month, until April 2.
And again, the road will not be blocked every evening.
“It’s only in rainy weather because amphibians need to have their skin constantly hydrated,” explains the one who is a trained naturalist.
As soon as she received the green light, she scratched her head over how she was going to close the main road every evening.
“We had to find volunteers to help us.
I thought I wouldn't find anyone.
Well yes!
“, she rejoices.
Around fifteen people offered themselves.
“We established a schedule.
The organization is well established,” smiles Christelle Bès.
Also read: Île-de-France: leave the way clear for the toads!
Six different species on site
The choice of the period owes nothing to chance.
Between February and April, amphibians come out of the woods where they are holed up to lay their eggs in a watering hole.
Along the route de la Noue, a stream flows down a hill to feed a pond.
All around there are only fields, pastures and groves.
A place suitable for laying eggs which is also well frequented.
In the pond, we can already see eggs by the hundreds almost everywhere.
“During the mating season, amphibians can travel 50 to 100 meters and even up to a kilometer for toads,” admires Christelle Bès.
Each female, depending on the species, lays between 200 and 400 eggs.
Very few reach maturity, between 1 and 10%.
“The survival rate is very low,” confirms the life specialist.
She counted it one evening last year: around thirty amphibians perished under car tires on this stretch of road alone.
This Saturday, during the first night of closure, Christelle and Charly counted 15 common toads, 10 agile frogs and as many redheads, 1 webbed newt, an alpine and three spotted salamanders.
“We have listed six species of amphibians out of the 15 represented in Seine-et-Marne,” enthuses Christelle Bès.
Laurence Miffre-Peretti, the mayor (SE) of this town of 1,200 inhabitants, explains that when she was contacted, she “accepted straight away.
What I really appreciate with Christelle and Charly is that beyond saving amphibians, there is a whole educational aspect that allows everyone to discover them and learn.
» Because the couple, in addition to saving them, the couple is carrying out awareness-raising operations around these animals for residents.
In any case, the elected official explains that when it comes to the environment, the municipality does not intend to stop there.
“Appointment has already been made for next year.
Last year we worked on bees.
I already have requests for hedgehogs.
»