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

A Worrying Drop in Numbers

The common toad is becoming increasingly rare. A recent study led by an wildlife conservation group revealed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since 1985. Seeing a creature that has been a fixture of the UK landscape in decline is described as "concerning" by experts. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "ought to live quite well in the majority of habitats in the UK," meaning if even they are struggling to persist, "it kind of suggests that things are not as they should be."

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

The Danger from Traffic

Though the research didn't cover the causes for the drop, traffic certainly plays a part. Estimates suggest that 20 tons of toads are crushed on UK roads annually – that is, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which would probably be content to mate "with just a small container," toads prefer large ponds. Their capacity to remain away from water for more time than frogs means they can journey farther to reach them – sometimes long distances. They usually stick to their ancestral migration routes – it's typical for adult toads to return to their natal pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Fittingly, the first toads begin their quest for a mate around Valentine's day, but some move as late as April, until it gets dark and moving through the night. During that period, toads begin migrating from wherever they have been hibernating "almost simultaneously."

A local helper, who grew up 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 have an orgy." If their route crosses a street, they could all get run over, and that mating period would never happen – preventing a new generation of toads from being born.

Toad Patrols Across the UK

Seeing many of toad carcasses on nearby streets "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has led to the formation of rescue teams throughout the UK – 274 groups are currently registered with a countrywide program. These groups pick up toads and carry them over streets in buckets, as well as recording the quantity of toads they encounter and lobbying for other protection measures, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Volunteers tend to operate during the migration season, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this implies they can overlook groups of young toads, which, having existed as spawn and then juveniles, leave their ponds over an unpredictable schedule in the end of summer. Because of their size – just one or two centimetres wide – "they can get obliterated by car traffic." And as being run over "essentially crushes them," it's harder to get data on them. At least when mature amphibians are lost, their carcasses can be counted.

Year-Round Efforts

Unlike most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth year of operating, go out throughout the year – not every night, but whenever conditions are damp, or if a member has reported about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on patrol, they admit it is "not a toady night" – winter dormancy has started and it's been a arid period – but several of the helpers willingly accept to walk up and down their route with me and see what we can find. "If anyone can find any toads tonight, those two will spot one," says the group coordinator, indicating her 14-year-old son and the longtime volunteer. We've been out for 120 minutes without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have climbed over a barbed wire fence to inspect beneath some logs.

Family Participation

The family duo joined the patrol a while back. The youngster loves 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 native animals. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the middle-aged small business owner explains – so when the group was seeking a new manager recently, she volunteered for the role.

The teenager, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A video he made, imploring the municipal authority to block a street through a protected area during breeding time, swung the decision the group's way. After a twelve months of lobbying, the authority agreed to an "restricted access" rule between evening and morning from February through to April. Most drivers duly avoided the route.

Other Wildlife and Difficulties

Several cars go by when I'm out on patrol and we find some casualties as a consequence – no amphibians, but three squashed newts. We spot one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is particularly pleased to see a harvestman, which moves in his hands. Yet despite the group's hardest attempts to show me a toad, the local population has obviously gone dormant for the colder months. It appears that I couldn't have found any more luck anywhere else in the country – all the patrol groups I contact clarify that it's near-impossible at this time of year.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

One email I get from another volunteer, who has generously made the effort to look for toads in a noted location, thought to be the biggest tracked toad group in the UK, reaches me with the subject line: "No toads." However, in late winter, he informs me, the group expects to help approximately ten thousand adult toads across the road.

Impact and Challenges

How much of a difference can these organizations truly achieve? "The fact that volunteers are performing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is remarkable," notes an expert. "That's something that very much should be celebrated." However, while toad patrols are able to slow the decline, they cannot prevent it entirely – partly since vehicles is not the only threat.

Other Dangers

The global warming has resulted in longer periods of drought, which create the poor environment for some of the animals that toads eat, such as worms and slugs, while warmer ponds have led to an increase of toxic plants, which can be harmful to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to wake up from their hibernation more often, interfering with the resource preservation vital to their life cycle. Loss of environment – especially the disappearance of large ponds – is another menace.

Experts are "always a bit worried about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," but "There is a big value in just having these animals around." But toads do have an important role in the food chain, consuming pretty much any small creatures or tiny organisms they can fit in their mouths and in turn feeding a number of birds and mammals, such as wildlife. Enhancing conditions for toads – ie building water habitats, conserving woodland and installing toad tunnels – "we'll improve them for a wide range of additional wildlife."

Cultural Importance

An additional motive to try to keep toads around is their "historical significance," adds an specialist. Myths and folklore around toads go back {centuries|hundred