Toad Who Needs Help Waits On Dirt Trail For Someone To Save Him

“I gently touched him with a soft twig, and he barely reacted ... I knew that I needed to help him.”

Sarah Newman was hiking along a trail at Rock Creek National Park in Washington, D.C., when she noticed a toad sitting in the middle of the path. He almost completely blended in with the dirt trail, and since he wasn’t moving, even as Newman approached him, she was worried someone might accidentally step on him. 

As Newman got closer to examine the toad, she realized he seemed almost lifeless and immediately got the feeling that something was wrong with him. 

“I gently touched him with a soft twig, and he barely reacted,” Newman told The Dodo. “I had no idea what was wrong with him … I knew that I needed to help him.” 

toad rescue
Sarah Newman

Newman debated just moving the toad off the path and into a pile of leaves where he’d be safe, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that he needed more help than that, so she decided to take him to the park headquarters. The only issue was how to transport him there — and then she had a perfect idea. 

“I realized that my second mask could be a gentle and safe gurney and the easiest way to move him,” Newman said. “He was pretty motionless during the walk, and though I had seen his heartbeat, I wasn't sure if he would survive.” 

toad rescue
Sarah Newman

Once she got to the park headquarters, she discovered that, unfortunately, no one was there, so instead she called the Humane Rescue Alliance (HRA) to see if an animal control officer could come and get him. They said they could but weren’t able to give her an ETA. She wasn’t sure if she could wait all day and even tried to see if she could get a police officer to come and wait with the toad until the animal control officer arrived. She refused to leave him and was determined to get him the help he needed, whatever it took. 

toad rescue
Sarah Newman

Eventually, Newman spotted someone from the HRA in the park and was able to flag her down and have her come over and examine the toad. 

“I told her the situation, and she gently picked up the toad and remarked that he felt quite cold but he did slowly move across her hand as she held him,” Newman said. “She put him into a little clear box with vents and said that a vet would see him today. And that was the end. She said I couldn't get a status on him because they have so many animals that they care for.”

toad rescue
Sarah Newman

A week went by though, and Newman couldn’t stop thinking about the toad. She really wanted to know if he was OK, and so she called the HRA anyway. They were actually able to tell her that he’d been taken in by City Wildlife and was getting the help he needed. 

“We initially assumed that he'd just popped up out of hibernation (they burrow into the ground over winter) a [bit] too early and gotten cold (hypothermic), but our veterinarian also found that he had a pretty substantial bacterial skin infection upon more thorough examination,” Jennifer Mattioli, communications and administrative director at City Wildlife, told The Dodo. “He's doing great now — he was started on a course of antibiotics, which he's now completed, to treat this infection.” 

It turns out that Newman’s instincts were absolutely right, and there was something wrong with the toad. Thanks to her, he was able to get the help he needed and will soon be released back into the wild. 

toad rescue
City Wildlife

“Initially he was just adorable, trilling happily in his aquarium,” Mattioli said. “But once he started feeling a little bit better, he's turned into a sassy wild toad who fusses now when handled — which we strive to minimize as part of our Patient Bill of Rights, our rules for keeping our wild patients wild.”

Newman hikes at Rock Creek National Park nearly every day, and that was the first time she’d ever seen a toad. Now, she’ll surely be on the lookout for any other tiny creatures who may need help, and will hopefully always have a second mask handy, just in case.

“There are so many benefits to wearing a second mask, but I never expected that one would be to help save a toad,” Newman said.