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It is Friday evening at 7:30, but instead of going out or relaxing at home, I've caught a train to a town in the countryside to join volunteers from a toad patrol. These committed people give up their nights to safeguard the native amphibian community.

A Worrying Decline in Population

The common toad is becoming increasingly rare. A latest research conducted by an wildlife conservation group showed that the UK toad population have almost halved since 1985. Observing a species that has been a stalwart of the UK landscape in decrease is labeled "worrying" by experts. Toads "don't require very particular environments" and "should be able to live quite well in the majority of areas in Britain," meaning if even they are struggling to persist, "it kind of suggests that things are not as they should be."

The UK toad population has almost halved since 1985

The Threat from Traffic

Though the study didn't examine the causes for the drop, cars is a major factor. Estimates suggest that 20 tons of toads are killed on British roads annually – in other words, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which might be content to mate "with just a small container," toads favor big bodies of water. Their ability to remain away from water for more time than frogs means they can travel further to reach them – often hundreds of metres. They usually follow their ancestral migration routes – it's typical for adult toads to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Migration Habits

Appropriately enough, the first toads begin their quest for a partner around Valentine's day, but others travel as late as spring, until it gets dark and travelling through the night. During that period, toads start moving from where they have been hibernating "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who grew up in the area and has been trying to protect its amphibians since he was a child, notes that "Their sole purpose: to go and mate." If their path happens to a street, they could be killed by traffic, and that mating period would be lost – preventing a new generation of toads from being born.

Rescue Groups Throughout the UK

Seeing hundreds of toad carcasses on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has resulted in the creation of toad patrols throughout the UK – 274 groups are officially listed with a countrywide program. These teams pick up toads and transport them over streets in buckets, as well as recording the number of toads they encounter and lobbying for other protection measures, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Volunteers usually work during the migration season, when toad crossings are more regular. However, this implies they can miss numbers of young toads, which, having existed as spawn and then juveniles, leave their water habitats over an irregular timetable in late summer. Because of their size – just a couple of cm wide – "they are destroyed by car traffic." And as being hit "basically turns them into mush," it's more difficult to collect information on them. At least when mature amphibians are lost, their carcasses can be tallied.

Annual Work

Unlike most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth year of functioning, go out year-round – not nightly, but whenever conditions are warm and wet, or if a member has reported about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on patrol, they concede it is "not ideal conditions" – winter dormancy has begun and it's been a dry day – but a few of the volunteers gamely agree to walk up and down their area with me and see what we can find. "If anyone can find any toads tonight, that pair will find one," says the patrol manager, indicating her teenage child 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 wood.

Community Participation

The mother and son became part of the patrol a while back. The teenager loves all things wildlife and has an ambition to become a conservationist, so his parent started to search for activities they could do jointly to help local wildlife. Now she loves it as much as he does, the middle-aged entrepreneur explains – so when the team was seeking a new manager recently, she volunteered for the role.

The youth, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A video he created, urging the municipal authority to block a road through a protected area during breeding time, swung the decision the group's way. After a twelve months of campaigning, the authority approved an "restricted access" restriction between evening and morning from late winter through to spring. The majority of motorists respected and avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Challenges

A few vehicles go past when I'm out on duty and we find some victims as a consequence – no toads, but three squashed newts. We spot one living newt as well, and the youngster is especially excited to see a daddy longlegs, which dances in his hands. Yet despite the group's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the native community has clearly settled down for the winter. It seems that I wouldn't have had any better success anywhere else in the country – all the patrol groups I reach out to explain that it's very difficult at this season.

This team anticipates assisting around ten thousand mature toads over the street

A message I get from another volunteer, who has generously taken the trouble to look for toads in a noted location, considered the biggest tracked toad group in the UK, reaches me with the subject line: "No toads." However, in February and March, he tells me, the group plans to assist around 10,000 adult toads over the street.

Impact and Limitations

How much of a difference can these groups actually make? "The fact that people are performing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is quite extraordinary," notes an researcher. "That's something that very much deserves recognition." However, while toad patrols are able to reduce the drop, they cannot prevent it entirely – not least because traffic is not the only threat.

Additional Threats

The global warming has resulted in longer periods of drought, which create the poor environment for some of the animals that toads consume, such as invertebrates, while warmer ponds have caused an increase of blue-green algae, which can be toxic to toads. Milder winters also cause toads to emerge from their dormancy more frequently, interfering with the energy conservation crucial to their existence. Loss of environment – especially the loss of large ponds – is an additional threat.

Experts are "always a bit worried about overemphasizing practical benefits on biodiversity," but "It's important in just their presence." But toads play an significant part in the food chain, eating almost any small creatures or small animals they can swallow and in turn feeding a number of birds and mammals, such as wildlife. Improving situations for toads – such as creating more ponds, protecting forests and installing toad tunnels – "benefits for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

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