A life in the gutter – Asian Toad

Water is the life blood of the small island city state of Singapore; it is hot, it is very hot. Like all island nations, too little freshwater would present a real risk to people and wildlife. In the boom and bust tropics, the monsoon deluge brings life, but also the risk of severe floods. To manage the cycle of rainfall, the city has created a network of concrete veins and arteries that capture every drop of rainwater, passing it from small drain to larger drain until finally the water spills into the Singapore river and the vast reservoirs. These barren concrete drains captured my interest, as they seemed like a place where creatures could be found. I had read stories of huge pythons slithering through the dark damp pipes hunting sewer rats and feral cats, so I couldn’t resist grabbing a torch and walking alongside the local drain on a…