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It's a Friday evening at half past seven, but instead of going out or watching a film, I've taken a train to a town in Wiltshire to meet up with volunteers from a toad patrol. These committed people give up their nights to protect the local toad population.

A Worrying Drop in Numbers

The Bufo bufo is becoming increasingly rare. A latest study 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 stalwart of the British countryside in decrease is labeled "worrying" by researchers. Toads "don't require very particular environments" and "ought to live successfully in the majority of habitats in Britain," so if even they are struggling to persist, "it kind of suggests that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

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

The Threat from Traffic

Though the research didn't examine the reasons for the decline, traffic certainly plays a part. Estimates indicate that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on UK roads every year – in other words, several hundred thousand. 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 travel further to find them – sometimes hundreds of metres. They usually follow their ancestral migration routes – it's common for adult toads to return to their natal pond to mate.

Migration Habits

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 time, toads start moving from wherever they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."

A local helper, who grew up in the region and has been working to save its toad population since he was a boy, explains that "They've got just one focus: to go and mate." If their path happens to a road, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would be lost – stopping a new generation of toads from being born.

Toad Patrols Across the United Kingdom

Finding many of dead toads on local roads "resonates deeply with people," and has resulted in the creation of toad patrols across the UK – hundreds of organizations are currently registered with a national initiative. These teams collect toads and carry them across roads in containers, as well as recording the quantity of toads they encounter and advocating for other protection measures, such as blocked roads and underground wildlife tunnels.

Patrols usually work during the breeding period, when amphibian movements are more regular. However, this implies they can overlook numbers of young toads, which, having been spawn and then tadpoles, leave their ponds over an unpredictable schedule in the end of summer. Because of their size – just a couple of cm wide – "they are destroyed by vehicles." 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 remains can be tallied.

Annual Work

In contrast to most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of functioning, go out throughout the year – not nightly, but whenever weather are damp, or if someone has reported about a amphibian spotting in their group chat. When I request to accompany them on patrol, they concede it is "not ideal conditions" – toad hibernation season has begun and it's been a dry day – but a few of the volunteers gamely agree to patrol their area with me and search for any toads. "Should anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the patrol manager, indicating her teenage child and the experienced member. We've been out for two hours without a single toad sighting, and now they have climbed over a wire barrier to inspect beneath some logs.

Family Participation

The family duo joined the patrol a year and a half ago. The youngster loves all things nature-related and has an goal to become a environmentalist, so his parent started to look for things they could do jointly to protect native animals. Now she loves it as much as he does, the 41-year-old entrepreneur tells me – so when the group was looking for a new manager lately, she decided to step up.

The youth, too, has played an important role in the group. A video he made, urging the municipal authority to close a street through a protected area during breeding time, swung the decision the team's way. After a twelve months of campaigning, the council approved an "access-only" restriction between evening and morning from late winter through to spring. The majority of motorists duly avoided the road.

Additional Species and Challenges

A few cars go by when I'm out on duty and we find some casualties as a result – no amphibians, but several crushed salamanders. We spot one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is especially excited to see a daddy longlegs, which moves in his palms. Yet in spite of the group's best efforts to let me see a toad, the local population has obviously settled down for the winter. It appears that I wouldn't have had any better success elsewhere in the nation – all the patrol groups I reach out to explain that it's near-impossible at this season.

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

A message I receive from another volunteer, who has generously made the effort to look for toads in a famous site, thought to be the largest accurately monitored toad population in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the title: "No toads." However, in late winter, he informs me, the group expects to help around 10,000 adult toads across the road.

Impact and Limitations

How much of a difference can these organizations actually make? "The reality that volunteers are doing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is quite extraordinary," says an researcher. "This effort that very much deserves recognition." However, while rescue teams are able to slow the decline, they can't stop it completely – partly since vehicles is just one danger.

Other Dangers

The global warming has resulted in extended spells of drought, which cause the wrong conditions for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as invertebrates, while warmer ponds have led to an increase of toxic plants, which can be toxic to toads. Warmer cold seasons also lead toads to wake up from their hibernation more often, interfering with the resource preservation vital to their life cycle. Loss of environment – especially the loss of big water bodies – is an additional threat.

Researchers are "always a bit worried about overemphasizing practical benefits on wildlife," but "There is a big value in just having these animals around." But toads do have an important role in the ecosystem, eating almost any invertebrates or small animals they can swallow and in turn feeding a variety of predators, such as wildlife. Enhancing situations for toads – ie building water habitats, protecting forests and constructing amphibian passages – "benefits for a wide range of other species."

Cultural Significance

Another reason to work to preserve toads around is their "important cultural value," adds an specialist. Legends and tales around toads go back {centuries|hundred