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It's 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 join volunteers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals sacrifice their nights to protect the local toad population.

A Worrying Decline in Numbers

The common toad is becoming increasingly rare. A recent research led by an wildlife conservation group showed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since 1985. Observing a creature that has been a stalwart of the UK landscape in decline is labeled "concerning" by researchers. Toads "don't require very particular environments" and "should be able to live quite well in the majority of habitats in the UK," meaning 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 Danger from Roads

Though the study didn't examine the reasons for the decline, traffic is a major factor. Calculations suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are crushed on UK roads annually – in other words, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which might be happy to mate "with just a bucket of water," toads prefer big bodies of water. Their capacity to stay out of water for longer than frogs means they can travel further to reach them – sometimes long distances. They tend to stick to their traditional paths – it's common for adult toads to go back to their birth pond to mate.

Migration Habits

Appropriately enough, the initial amphibians start their journey for a partner around Valentine's day, but others travel as late as spring, waiting until it gets dark and travelling through the night. During that period, toads start moving from wherever they have been hibernating "all pretty much at the same time."

A local helper, who was raised in the area and has been trying to protect its toad population since he was a boy, explains that "They've got just one focus: to go and mate." If their route crosses a road, they could all get run over, and that mating period would never happen – preventing a next generation of toads from being born.

Toad Patrols Across the United Kingdom

Seeing many of dead toads on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the creation of rescue teams throughout the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a countrywide program. These teams pick up toads and carry them across roads in containers, as well as recording the number of toads they find and advocating for other safety solutions, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Patrols tend to operate during the migration season, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this implies they can miss numbers of toadlets, which, having existed as spawn and then tadpoles, leave their ponds over an unpredictable schedule in late 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 harder to collect information on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their remains can be counted.

Year-Round Efforts

Unlike many groups, one local team, who are in their eighth year of functioning, go out throughout the year – not every night, but whenever weather are warm and wet, or if a member has posted about a toad sighting in their group chat. When I ask to join them on duty, they admit it is "not ideal conditions" – toad hibernation season has begun and it's been a arid period – but several of the volunteers gamely agree to walk up and down their area with me and search for any toads. "If anyone can locate any toads tonight, that pair will find one," says the patrol manager, pointing to her teenage child and the experienced member. We've been out for 120 minutes without a single toad sighting, and now they have scaled a barbed wire fence to check under some wood.

Family Participation

The family duo joined the group a while back. The youngster adores all things nature-related and has an goal to become a conservationist, so his mother started to look for activities they could do jointly to protect native animals. Now she loves it as much as he does, the 41-year-old small business owner tells me – so when the group was looking for a fresh coordinator lately, she volunteered for the role.

The youth, too, has played an important role in the organization. A video he created, imploring the local council to block a road through a protected area during breeding time, influenced the outcome the group's way. After a twelve months of campaigning, the council agreed to an "access-only" rule between evening and morning from February through to spring. Most drivers duly 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 amphibians, but several crushed salamanders. We see one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is especially excited to see a daddy longlegs, which dances in his hands. Yet in spite of the group's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the local population has obviously gone dormant for the colder months. It appears that I couldn't have found any better success anywhere else in the country – all the rescue teams I reach out to explain that it's near-impossible at this season.

The group expects to help approximately 10,000 adult toads across the road

One email I receive from another volunteer, who has generously made the effort to look for toads in a noted location, considered the largest accurately monitored toad population in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the title: "No toads." However, in February and March, he informs me, the team expects to help approximately ten thousand adult toads over the street.

Effectiveness and Challenges

What level of impact can these organizations truly achieve? "The fact that volunteers are performing this regularly on chilly, wet and miserable evenings is quite extraordinary," notes an expert. "That's something that very much should be celebrated." However, while rescue teams are able to reduce the drop, they can't stop it completely – partly since traffic is just one danger.

Other Dangers

The global warming has meant extended spells of drought, which cause the wrong conditions for some of the animals that toads consume, such as invertebrates, while higher water temperatures have led to an increase of blue-green algae, 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. Habitat destruction – especially the disappearance of big water bodies – is another menace.

Researchers are "often concerned about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," however "There is a big value in just having these animals around." But toads play an important role in the food chain, consuming pretty much any small creatures or small animals they can swallow and in turn feeding a variety of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing situations for toads – ie building water habitats, protecting forests and constructing amphibian passages – "benefits for a wide range of additional wildlife."

Cultural Significance

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