Messzelátó Egyesület

Wake up at 5 for the frogs! What a pleasure on Saturday morning! A sacrifice? I would say a satisfaction! The satisfaction of helping these sticky but sympathic amphibians to migrate on rainy days, to avoid the obstacles, to jump until the paradise of reproduction: a beautiful wetland sprinkled with soft white flowers whose blossoming welcomes the land-aquatico jumpers-swimmer.

Where does the scene take place? The village of Farmos, in Tápió, a beautiful land, quite wet, so full with wetlands. A nice place to walk around, in springs, and hear the sound of falcon, and other birds flying above the serenity of a flate nature caressed by the warm wind. In fact, Tapio is the theater of bloody drama every year! Spring is the season of reproduction, so the frog, as their colleague, want to mix their genes... but they have to migrate from the terrestrial environment to a wetter place (usually a pond at the corner of the land). They need a rainy period. So when the first rain of spring destroys the brushing of the ladies and soak the earth crust, every green flabby swallower start the migration!
So what? They migrate... like others species. But! In Farmos, and I think in other places, just before the aim, they have to cross a road. So let's destroy the road to save the frogs! No... because, ??? mmh.
Let's continue! So this road, this tar passage is only car friendly, not frog friendly. It's a barrier, a mountain of risk, a land of crushing monsters! How many frogs were killed in this battle place, transformed in roast beef, in green steak? In spite of their muscular and delicious posterior feet, they can't jump above the obstacle. We don't know but many of these soldiers were mashed during the time of migration. As we destroy, we have to save them!

What is the strategy? To help them crossing one by one by holding their hands? To create a bridge or a tunnel? The organization, Tápió Közalapítvány, have adopted another strategy.

The strategy is to install a plastic fence to stop them. And collect the migrants in buckets. Then, we can transport the ladies and the gentlemen to their "love lake". Neither romantic nor comfortable. It's a price to pay to cross the border and to spread the genetic inheritance through the next generation. The ultimate aim of life!

Calendar of events:

23 February 2008: repairing and installing 1,3 km of plastic fence with Jude, Chris, Helle, Marlene (Messzelato volunteers), Viktor, the ornithologist, and with volunteers from others organizations (Tápió Természetvédelmi Egyesület, Duna Ipoly Nemzeti Park Igazgatóság, Tápió Közalapítvány, Magyar Madártani Egyesület, Tápió-vidéki Helyi Csoportja, Farmosi Életmód Egyesület)

25 February 2008: almost 10% of the plastic fence was burnt. A cigarette butt?

11 March 2008: Jude, Helle, Ben, Csaba and Marlene woke up at 4am and saved approximately 200 frogs with the help of other volunteers from the region.