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It's a Friday evening at half past seven, but instead of going out or watching a film, I've caught a train to a market town in Wiltshire to join volunteers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals give up their evenings to protect the local toad population.

An Alarming Decline in Numbers

The common toad is becoming increasingly uncommon. A recent research conducted by an wildlife conservation group showed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since 1985. Seeing a species that has been a fixture of the UK landscape in decrease is labeled "concerning" by experts. Toads "don't require very particular environments" and "ought to live successfully in the majority of areas in the UK," so 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 cover the causes for the decline, traffic certainly plays a part. Estimates suggest that 20 tons of toads are crushed on UK roads every year – that is, several hundred thousand. In contrast to frogs, which might be content to mate "if you left out a small container," toads favor large ponds. Their ability to remain away from water for longer than frogs allows they can journey farther to find them – often long distances. They usually follow their traditional paths – it's typical for mature amphibians to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Migration Habits

Appropriately enough, the first toads start their journey for a partner around Valentine's day, but some move as late as April, until it gets dark and travelling after sunset. During that time, toads begin migrating from where they have been hibernating "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who was raised in the region and has been working to save its toad population since he was a child, notes that "They've got just one focus: to go and mate." If their route happens to a road, they could all get run over, and that breeding season would be lost – preventing a next generation of toads from being born.

Toad Patrols Across the UK

Finding many of dead toads on local roads "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has resulted in the creation of rescue teams throughout the UK – 274 groups are officially listed with a countrywide program. These teams collect toads and carry them over streets in buckets, as well as counting the quantity of toads they find and lobbying for other protection measures, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Volunteers usually work during the migration season, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this means they can overlook numbers of toadlets, which, having existed as spawn and then tadpoles, leave their water habitats over an irregular timetable in the end of summer. Because of their small stature – just one or two centimetres wide – "they can get obliterated by vehicles." And as being run over "basically turns them into mush," it's more difficult to get data on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their carcasses can be counted.

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 conditions are warm and wet, or if someone has posted about a amphibian spotting in their group chat. When I ask to join them on patrol, they admit it is "not ideal conditions" – toad hibernation season has begun and it's been a arid period – but a few of the helpers gamely agree to patrol their route with me and search for any toads. "Should anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the group coordinator, indicating her 14-year-old son and the longtime volunteer. After for two hours without a single toad sighting, and now they have climbed over a barbed wire fence to inspect beneath some wood.

Community Participation

The family duo became part of the patrol a while back. 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 jointly to protect local wildlife. Now she loves it as much as he does, the 41-year-old entrepreneur explains – so when the group was looking for a fresh coordinator recently, she decided to step up.

The youth, too, has been instrumental in the group. A clip he made, imploring the municipal authority to close a road through a protected area during breeding time, swung the decision the group's way. After a twelve months of campaigning, the council agreed to an "access-only" restriction between evening and morning from late winter through to spring. The majority of motorists duly avoided the route.

Additional Species and Challenges

Several vehicles go past when I'm out on duty and we find some casualties as a consequence – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We spot one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is particularly pleased to see a harvestman, which dances in his hands. Yet in spite of the team's best efforts to let me see a toad, the native community has clearly settled down for the winter. It appears that I couldn't have found any better success elsewhere in the country – all the rescue teams I contact explain that it's very difficult at this time of year.

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

A message I receive from a different helper, who has generously made the effort to look for toads in a noted location, considered the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, reaches me with the subject line: "No toads." However, in late winter, he informs me, the team plans to assist approximately ten thousand adult toads across the road.

Effectiveness and Limitations

What level of impact can these groups actually make? "The reality that people are doing this consistently on chilly, wet and miserable evenings is remarkable," notes an expert. "That's something that very much should be celebrated." However, while toad patrols are able to reduce the drop, they cannot prevent it entirely – partly since traffic is just one danger.

Other Dangers

The climate crisis has resulted in extended spells of dry weather, which create the wrong conditions for some of the creatures that toads consume, 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 emerge from their dormancy more frequently, interfering with the energy conservation vital to their existence. Loss of environment – particularly the disappearance of big water bodies – is an additional threat.

Experts are "often concerned about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on wildlife," however "It's important in just their presence." But toads do have an significant part in the food chain, eating pretty much any small creatures or tiny organisms they can swallow and in turn feeding a number of predators, such as wildlife. Improving situations for toads – ie building water habitats, conserving woodland and constructing amphibian passages – "we'll improve them for a whole bunch of other species."

Cultural Importance

Another reason to try to keep toads present is their "historical significance," notes an expert. Myths and folklore around toads date back {centuries|hundred