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It's Friday evening at half past seven, but instead of heading to the pub or relaxing at home, I've caught a train to a town in the countryside to meet up with volunteers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals sacrifice their evenings to safeguard the native amphibian community.

A Worrying Decline in Numbers

The common toad is becoming increasingly rare. A recent study conducted by an wildlife conservation group showed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since 1985. Seeing a species that has been a stalwart of the UK landscape in decrease is described as "worrying" by researchers. Toads "don't need very particular environments" and "should be able to live successfully in most of areas in the UK," so if even they are not managing to survive, "it indicates that things are not as they should be."

Since 1985, Britain's toad numbers have nearly been cut in half

The Threat from Traffic

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 annually – that is, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which would probably be happy to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads favor big bodies of water. Their ability to remain away from water for longer than frogs means they can journey farther to reach them – often hundreds of metres. They tend to stick to their traditional paths – it's common for mature amphibians to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Migration Habits

Fittingly, the initial amphibians begin their quest for a partner around February 14th, but some move as late as spring, waiting until it gets dark and moving through the night. During that time, toads begin migrating from wherever they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."

A local helper, who was raised in the area and has been trying to protect its toad population since he was a child, notes that "They've got just one focus: to go and mate." If their route happens to a road, they could all get run over, and that breeding season would be lost – stopping a new generation of toads from being produced.

Rescue Groups Throughout the United Kingdom

Seeing many of toad carcasses on local roads "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the formation of toad patrols throughout the UK – 274 groups are currently registered with a national initiative. These teams collect toads and transport them over streets in containers, as well as recording the quantity of toads they find and advocating for other protection measures, such as road closures and underground wildlife tunnels.

Volunteers tend to operate during the migration season, when amphibian movements are more regular. However, this means they can miss numbers of young toads, which, having been eggs and then tadpoles, exit 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 vehicles." And as being hit "basically turns them into mush," it's harder to get data on them. At least when mature amphibians are lost, their remains can be tallied.

Year-Round Efforts

Unlike most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of functioning, go out throughout the year – not nightly, but when weather are warm and wet, or if someone has posted about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on duty, they admit it is "not a toady night" – winter dormancy has started and it's been a arid period – but a few of the volunteers gamely agree to walk up and down their route with me and search for any toads. "Should anyone can find any toads tonight, those two will find 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 logs.

Community Involvement

The family duo joined the group a while back. The youngster loves all things wildlife and has an ambition to become a conservationist, so his mother started to look for things they could do together to help local wildlife. Now she loves it as much as he does, the 41-year-old small business owner tells me – so when the group was seeking a fresh coordinator lately, she volunteered for the role.

The youth, too, has played an important role in the organization. A video he made, imploring the municipal authority to block a road through a protected area during migration season, swung the decision the team's way. After a year of lobbying, the authority approved an "access-only" restriction between 5pm and 5am from February through to April. The majority of motorists duly avoided the road.

Additional Species and Difficulties

Several vehicles go by when I'm out on duty and we find some casualties as a result – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We spot one living newt as well, and the youngster is particularly pleased to see a daddy longlegs, which dances in his hands. Yet in spite of the group's best efforts to let me see a toad, the native community has obviously gone dormant for the winter. It seems that I couldn't have found any more luck anywhere else in the country – all the rescue teams I contact clarify that it's near-impossible 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 kindly made the effort to check for toads in a famous site, considered the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the subject line: "None found." However, in late winter, he informs me, the group expects to help approximately ten thousand adult toads across the road.

Effectiveness and Limitations

What level of impact can these organizations actually make? "The fact that people are doing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant evenings is remarkable," says an expert. "That's something that very much deserves recognition." However, while rescue teams are able to reduce the drop, they cannot prevent it entirely – not least because vehicles is just one danger.

Additional Threats

The global warming has meant longer periods of dry weather, which cause the poor environment for some of the animals that toads consume, such as invertebrates, while higher water temperatures have caused an increase of toxic plants, which can be harmful to toads. Milder winters also lead toads to emerge from their dormancy more frequently, interfering with the resource preservation crucial to their life cycle. Habitat destruction – particularly the disappearance of big water bodies – is an additional threat.

Experts are "always a bit worried about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," however "It's important in just having these animals around." But toads do have an significant part in the ecosystem, consuming almost any invertebrates or small animals they can swallow and in turn feeding a number of birds and mammals, such as wildlife. Enhancing conditions for toads – ie creating more ponds, protecting forests and constructing toad tunnels – "benefits for a wide range of additional wildlife."

Historical Importance

An additional motive to try to keep toads present is their "important cultural value," adds an expert. Myths and folklore around toads go back {centuries|hundred