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It's a Friday night at half past seven, but rather than heading to the pub or relaxing at home, I've caught a train to a market town in Wiltshire to meet up with volunteers from a toad patrol. These committed people give up their evenings to safeguard the local toad population.

A Worrying Decline in Numbers

The common toad is growing more rare. A latest research conducted by an amphibian and reptile charity revealed that the British common toad numbers have dropped by half since 1985. Seeing a creature that has been a fixture of the UK landscape in decline is described as "worrying" by experts. Toads "don't need very particular environments" and "ought to live quite well in most of areas in Britain," so if even they are struggling to persist, "it indicates that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

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

The Threat from Traffic

Though the study didn't examine the reasons for the drop, cars certainly plays a part. Calculations indicate that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on British roads every year – in other words, hundreds of thousands. In contrast to frogs, which might be content to mate "with just a small container," toads favor large ponds. Their capacity to stay out of water for longer than frogs means they can journey farther to reach them – often long distances. They usually stick to their ancestral migration routes – it's typical for adult toads to return to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Patterns

Fittingly, the first toads begin their quest for a partner around February 14th, but others travel as far as spring, waiting until it gets dark and moving after sunset. During that period, toads start moving from where 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 boy, explains that "Their sole purpose: to go and mate." If their path crosses a road, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would be lost – preventing a new generation of toads from being produced.

Toad Patrols Across the United Kingdom

Seeing hundreds of dead toads on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the formation of toad patrols throughout the UK – hundreds of organizations are currently registered with a national initiative. These groups pick up toads and carry them over streets in buckets, as well as recording the quantity of toads they find and lobbying for other safety solutions, such as road closures and underground wildlife tunnels.

Volunteers usually work during the breeding period, when amphibian movements are more regular. However, this means they can overlook numbers of young toads, which, having been eggs and then juveniles, exit their water habitats 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 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

Unlike most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of operating, go out year-round – not nightly, but whenever weather are damp, or if a member has reported about a amphibian spotting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on patrol, they concede it is "not a toady night" – toad hibernation season has started and it's been a dry day – but a few of the volunteers willingly accept to patrol their area with me and see what we can find. "If anyone can find any toads tonight, those two will spot one," says the patrol manager, indicating her 14-year-old son and the experienced member. We've been out for 120 minutes without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have scaled a wire barrier to inspect beneath some logs.

Family Participation

The family duo became part of the patrol a year and a half ago. The youngster loves all things wildlife and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his mother started to look for activities they could do together to protect native animals. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the 41-year-old small business owner tells me – so when the group was looking for a new manager recently, she volunteered for the role.

The youth, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A video he created, imploring the local council to close a road through a protected area during migration season, influenced the outcome the group's way. After a year of campaigning, the council agreed to an "access-only" restriction between evening and morning from late winter through to spring. Most drivers duly avoided the road.

Additional Species and Challenges

A few cars go by when I'm out on duty and we discover some casualties as a result – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We spot one living newt as well, and the youngster is especially excited to see a harvestman, which moves in his hands. Yet despite the team's best efforts to let me see a toad, the local population has obviously gone dormant for the colder months. It seems that I couldn't have found any better success anywhere else in the nation – all the patrol groups I reach out to clarify that it's near-impossible at this time of year.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

One email I receive from another volunteer, who has generously taken the trouble to check for toads in a famous site, thought to be the biggest tracked toad group in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the subject line: "No toads." However, in late winter, he informs me, the team plans to assist around 10,000 mature amphibians over the street.

Impact and Challenges

What level of impact can these organizations truly achieve? "The reality that volunteers are doing this consistently on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is remarkable," notes an expert. "That's something that very much deserves recognition." However, while rescue teams are able to slow the decline, they cannot prevent it entirely – partly since vehicles is just one danger.

Additional Threats

The global warming has meant extended spells of dry weather, which create the wrong conditions for some of the animals that toads consume, such as invertebrates, while higher water temperatures 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, interfering with the resource preservation vital to their life cycle. Loss of environment – particularly 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 play an important role in the ecosystem, eating pretty much any small creatures or tiny organisms they can fit in their mouths and in turn sustaining a variety of birds and mammals, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing situations for toads – ie creating more ponds, protecting forests and installing amphibian passages – "we'll improve them for a wide range of additional wildlife."

Historical Importance

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