KOČÍ a.s.
K Lipám 132
397 01 Písek
Tel. +420 382 208 200
koci@koci.eu

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“ Higher, Vladimír, higher…” doesn´t this sentence remind you anything? You´re right, a popular comedy “ In the solitude by the woods ” made by Zdeněk Svěrák. And the scene where the actors echo the sound of Fire-bellied toads.

“ Higher, Vladimír, higher…” doesn´t this sentence remind you anything? You´re right, a popular comedy “ In the solitude by the woods ” made by Zdeněk Svěrák. And the scene where the actors echo the sound of Fire-bellied toads. The toad that is the main character of our story. It belongs to the group of very endangered species and its replacement has been prepared in Písek in order to be saved…

It happened like that. A mushroom-picker set off to pick up mushrooms and as he was walking he could hear a kind of croaking from a nearby hole that the company Rekultivace Písek has been filling by demolition rubbish. He announced his discovery to the local newspaper and the zoologist from the local Prácheňské museum has been taken into account: Fire-bellied toad that is sometimes called Fiery toad because of its yellow or red-black speckles on its tummy belongs to the group of very endangered species and it is protected in our country. It is about fifty millimetres long, inconspicuous toad that you cannot see in the nature easily, because it is afraid of humans. It lives in puddles, pools and shallow ponds which people make in the gardens. You can get its eggs there on birds´ legs or wings. You can hear it in warm summer early evening when the voice of croaking male toads can sound like the toads´ choir…”

In coincidence just the next day after the discovery of an endangered species the staff of Rekultivace Písek were going to fill the damp hole. Luckily a few quick phone calls and the feet of the manager of the spoil rip stopped the lorry coming towards the area to throw down the content of the fully filled body of the car. The driver threw down the soil a few metres further due to the order of Mr. Radek Kočí, the director of the construction company that manages Rekultivace Písek:” We preserve the locality by piles of soil that prevent the lorries from covering up this area where the toads occurred by mistake. What is more, we have placed a kind of police tape to demarcate the area”.

The Fire-bellied toad has been saved for that moment. But what is going to happen then? Kočí company as the owner of the property is going to fill the hole and grade it and use it in the future for example for construction of family houses, the land-development plan includes the new road through this area. “The toads must be caught and replaced to the convenient locality at the right time,” the zoologist Mr. Karel Pecl announced. “ The catching can be done at the time when the adult toads are found in the water. If we did this in summer there would be tadpoles in the water as well and we would not be able to catch them all. Another deadline is the end of September and the beginning of October when winter is coming and the toads hide the shelters in roots of trees, etc.”.

The replacement of the toads is going to happen during the first half of September. Where are the toads going to be replaced? “ No doubt it is true to choose the area not far from the original one because the toads are used to living in the habitat, and the area not occupied by any other fire-bellied toads in order not to make panic and chaos or even wars. There are some pools near the river Blanice which were made a few years ago and where the vegetation has been grown enough to provide food and shelter for fire-bellied toads but they have not been occupied so much to cause misbalance of species,” Mr. Karel Pecl says. He announces the fact that the local authorities of the Ministry of environment and the village Putim local authorities where the pools are situated have to approve with the replacement.

The occurrence of preserved Fire-bellied toads is the indicator of quality environment. “ We are delighted that we were able to save the toads. Not only because of them, but also due to the fact that the discovery happened in the place which has been filled with demolition rubbish. The aim of Rekultivace Písek is to dispose demolition rubbish and the environment of ecological ballast. The occurrence of Fire-bellied toads is the proof that we do our job honestly, “ Radek Kočí concludes.

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