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It is Friday night at half past seven, but rather than going out or watching a film, I've taken a train to a market town in the countryside to meet up with volunteers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals give up their nights to safeguard the native amphibian community.

An Alarming Drop in Numbers

The common toad is becoming increasingly rare. A latest research led by an amphibian and reptile charity revealed that the British common toad numbers have almost halved since the mid-1980s. Observing a creature that has been a stalwart of the UK landscape in decrease is described as "concerning" by experts. Toads "don't need very particular environments" and "should be able to live quite well in the majority of habitats in the UK," so if even they are struggling to persist, "it kind of suggests that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

The UK toad population has almost halved since 1985

The Danger from Roads

Though the study didn't cover the causes for the decline, traffic is a major factor. Calculations indicate that 20 tons of toads are killed on British roads every year – in other words, hundreds of thousands. In contrast to frogs, which might be happy to mate "with just a bucket of water," toads prefer big bodies of water. Their ability to remain away from water for longer than frogs means they can travel further to find them – often hundreds of metres. They tend to stick to their traditional paths – it's common for mature amphibians to return to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Appropriately enough, the initial amphibians start their journey for a partner around February 14th, but others travel as late as April, waiting until it gets night and travelling through the night. During that period, toads start moving from wherever they have been hibernating "all pretty much at the same time."

One volunteer, who was raised in the region and has been working to save its toad population since he was a child, explains that "They've got just one focus: to go and have an orgy." If their route happens to a road, they could be killed by traffic, and that mating period would never happen – preventing a new generation of toads from being produced.

Rescue Groups Across the United Kingdom

Seeing hundreds of dead toads on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has resulted in the formation of rescue teams across the UK – hundreds of organizations are currently registered with a countrywide program. These groups pick up toads and transport them over streets in buckets, as well as counting the number of toads they encounter and lobbying for other safety solutions, such as road closures and underground wildlife tunnels.

Patrols tend to operate during the migration season, when amphibian movements are more regular. However, this means they can overlook numbers of young toads, which, having existed as eggs and then tadpoles, leave their water habitats over an unpredictable schedule in the end of summer. Because of their size – just a couple of cm wide – "they can get obliterated by car traffic." And as being hit "basically turns them into mush," it's harder to collect information on them. At least when adult toads are lost, their carcasses can be tallied.

Annual Work

In contrast to many groups, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of functioning, go out year-round – not nightly, but when weather are warm and wet, or if someone has reported about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on duty, they concede it is "not ideal conditions" – winter dormancy has begun and it's been a arid period – but several of the helpers gamely agree to walk up and down their route with me and search for any toads. "Should anyone can locate any toads tonight, that pair will spot one," says the patrol manager, indicating her 14-year-old son and the longtime volunteer. After for 120 minutes without a single toad sighting, and now they have climbed over a barbed wire fence to check under some wood.

Family Involvement

The mother and son joined the patrol a year and a half ago. The youngster adores all things nature-related and has an goal to become a conservationist, so his mother started to search for activities they could do together to help local wildlife. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the 41-year-old entrepreneur tells me – so when the team was looking for a fresh coordinator recently, she volunteered for the role.

The youth, too, has played an important role in the organization. A clip he created, imploring the local council to block a street through a nature reserve during migration season, influenced the outcome the team's way. After a twelve months of campaigning, the council agreed to an "access-only" restriction between evening and morning from February through to spring. The majority of motorists duly avoided the route.

Other Wildlife and Challenges

Several vehicles go past when I'm out on duty and we discover some victims as a result – no amphibians, but three squashed newts. We see one live amphibian as well, and the youngster is especially excited to see a daddy longlegs, which dances in his hands. Yet in spite of the team's best efforts to let me see a toad, the native community has obviously settled down for the winter. It appears that I wouldn't have had any better success elsewhere in the country – all the rescue teams I contact clarify that it's very difficult at this season.

The group expects to help approximately 10,000 adult toads across the road

One email I get from a different helper, who has generously taken the trouble to check for toads in a famous site, considered the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the subject line: "No toads." However, in late winter, he tells me, the team expects to help approximately 10,000 adult toads over the street.

Effectiveness and Limitations

What level of impact can these organizations truly achieve? "The fact that volunteers are doing this regularly on chilly, wet and miserable late nights is remarkable," says an researcher. "That's something that very much should be celebrated." However, while toad patrols are able to reduce the drop, they can't stop it completely – partly since vehicles is not the only threat.

Additional Threats

The global warming has resulted in extended spells of dry weather, which create the poor environment for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as invertebrates, while warmer ponds have led to an rise of toxic plants, which can be harmful to toads. Milder winters also lead toads to emerge from their hibernation more frequently, disrupting the resource preservation crucial to their life cycle. Loss of environment – especially the loss of big water bodies – is another menace.

Researchers are "often concerned about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," but "It's important in just having these animals around." But toads do have an significant part in the food chain, eating pretty much any invertebrates or small animals they can swallow and in turn feeding a variety of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing conditions for toads – such as building water habitats, protecting forests and constructing toad tunnels – "benefits for a wide range of other species."

Historical Significance

Another reason to work to preserve toads present is their "historical significance," notes an specialist. Myths and folklore around toads go back {centuries|hundred