The front yard of Joyce Schouten鈥檚 Langley home was almost completely covered Monday morning in what appeared to be toadlets, tiny, immature amphibians, probably from the nearby lagoon that serves as breeding habitat for the toad.

鈥淭he patio was just black,鈥� Schouten said.

鈥淚t was covered.鈥�

Schouten awoke to see her Husky-German-Shepherd cross Sharla sitting morosely on the patio, surrounded by the fingernail-sized light green and grey creatures swarming through her property.

鈥淚t didn鈥檛 seem to bother her, but I don鈥檛 think she likes it,鈥� Schouten said.

It is not the first time her home in the 1700 block of 197A Street has experienced a larger-than-normal influx.

鈥淚t was about 15 years ago (when the last big visitation occurred), but I figure there were more this time.鈥�

Schouten鈥檚 granddaughter Ashley Schouten said the tiny toadlets are regular visitors, but not in such large numbers.

鈥淟ast year, you鈥檇 see 10 around,鈥� she said, 鈥渘othing compared to this.鈥�

Ashley was using a broom to keep the tiny visitors from getting in whenever the door was opened.

Ashley鈥檚 14-month-old son Grayson didn鈥檛 seem bothered by the visitors, but he seemed a bit frustrated because he was being kept off the front lawn where he usually plays.

By the middle of the morning, the flow of crawling and hopping critters had begun to ease but it resumed the next day.

The Schoutens鈥� house is just across the street from a former gravel pit that houses a small lagoon that is a breeding site for the Western toad, a vulnerable 鈥渂lue-listed鈥� species of amphibian.

The A Rocha environmental stewardship group has around the wetland areas that could threaten the already vulnerable Western toad population.

The group believes the former gravel pit near 18 Avenue and 196 Street is the only confirmed Western Toad breeding site in the Campbell River watershed.

A Rocha and the Little Campbell River Watershed Society have recommended turning the site, which is currently split between six private properties, into parkland.

A Rocha suggests keeping large rural lot sizes around the lagoon, to 鈥渞etain and re-establish鈥� native vegetation, encourage continued monitoring of the toad population and water quality and work with Metro Vancouver and neighbouring 性视界传媒 to protect wetlands and migration corridors.

In Oregon, a similar strategy was successfully used to help a struggling population of Western toads rebound.

An online summary posted by the BC Conservation Data Centre says while Western toad have a large range in B.C., populations have declined in some areas.

鈥淭he cause of these declines remains unclear; breeding sites/populations may be rare and relatively isolated, toads may not adjust well to rural and urban development, and the species may be particularly susceptible to disease,鈥� the centre said.

The primary threat to the majority of Western Toads in B.C. is said to be 鈥渉abitat degradation and loss鈥� especially in the Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island where populations have fallen.

Recent surveys suggest that the toads have declined in the Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island, while stable in the rest of B.C. 鈥淩apid declines of populations in parts of the U.S. have been observed in the past decade.鈥�