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It is Friday evening at 7:30, but rather than going out or watching a film, I've caught a train to a town in Wiltshire to join local helpers from a toad patrol. These committed people give up their nights to safeguard the local toad population.

A Worrying Decline in Population

The Bufo bufo is becoming increasingly rare. A latest study conducted by an wildlife conservation group 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 decrease is labeled "worrying" by experts. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "ought to live quite well in most of habitats in the UK," meaning if even they are struggling to persist, "it indicates 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 reasons for the decline, traffic is a major factor. Estimates suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are crushed on UK roads annually – that is, several hundred thousand. In contrast to frogs, which would probably be happy to mate "with just a small container," toads prefer big bodies of water. Their ability to stay out of water for longer than frogs allows they can journey farther to find them – often hundreds of metres. They usually follow their ancestral migration routes – it's common for mature amphibians to return to their natal pond to mate.

Migration Patterns

Fittingly, the initial amphibians start their journey for a partner around February 14th, but some move as late as spring, waiting until it gets dark and moving through the night. During that period, toads start moving from where they have been overwintering "all pretty much at the same time."

One volunteer, who was raised in the area and has been working to save its toad population since he was a child, notes that "Their sole purpose: to go and have an orgy." If their path happens to a road, they could all get run over, and that breeding season would never happen – preventing a next generation of toads from being produced.

Toad Patrols Throughout the UK

Seeing hundreds of dead toads on local roads "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has led to the creation of toad patrols throughout the UK – 274 groups are currently registered with a countrywide program. These groups pick up toads and transport them across roads in containers, as well as counting the number of toads they encounter and lobbying for other protection measures, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Patrols tend to operate during the breeding period, when toad crossings are more regular. However, this implies they can overlook groups of toadlets, which, having existed as spawn and then tadpoles, exit their water habitats over an unpredictable schedule in the end of summer. Because of their small stature – just a couple of cm wide – "they are destroyed by vehicles." And as being run over "essentially crushes them," it's more difficult to get data on them. At least when adult toads are killed, their remains can be tallied.

Year-Round Work

In contrast to many groups, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of functioning, go out throughout the year – not nightly, but when weather are warm and wet, or if a member has posted about a toad sighting in their group chat. When I request to accompany them on patrol, they admit it is "not a toady night" – toad hibernation season has begun and it's been a arid period – but a few of the volunteers gamely agree to patrol their area with me and see what we can find. "Should anyone can locate any toads tonight, that pair will spot one," says the group coordinator, pointing to her 14-year-old son 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.

Community Involvement

The family duo became part of the group a while back. The teenager adores all things wildlife and has an ambition to become a conservationist, so his mother started to look for things they could do together to help native animals. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the middle-aged small business owner tells me – so when the team was looking for a new manager recently, she decided to step up.

The teenager, too, has played an important role in the group. A clip he created, imploring the municipal authority to block a street through a protected area during migration season, swung the decision the group's way. After a twelve months of lobbying, 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.

Additional Species and Challenges

Several cars go by when I'm out on patrol and we discover some casualties as a consequence – no toads, but three squashed newts. We spot one living newt as well, and the teenager is particularly pleased to see a harvestman, which moves in his palms. Yet in spite of the group's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the native community has obviously settled down for the colder months. It seems that I couldn't have found any better success elsewhere in the country – all the rescue teams I contact clarify that it's very difficult at this time of year.

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

One email I receive from a different helper, who has kindly made the effort to check for toads in a famous site, considered the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, reaches me with the subject line: "None found." However, in late winter, he informs me, the group expects to help around ten thousand mature amphibians across the road.

Impact and Limitations

What level of impact can these organizations actually make? "The reality that people are doing this regularly on chilly, wet and miserable late nights is remarkable," notes 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 not the only threat.

Additional Threats

The global warming has resulted in longer periods of dry weather, which create the wrong conditions for some of the animals that toads consume, such as invertebrates, while warmer ponds have led to an rise of toxic plants, which can be harmful to toads. Warmer cold seasons also lead toads to wake up from their hibernation more frequently, disrupting the energy conservation crucial to their existence. Habitat destruction – especially the loss of large ponds – is an additional threat.

Experts are "often concerned about overemphasizing practical benefits on wildlife," but "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads play an important role in the food chain, eating almost any invertebrates or small animals they can swallow and in turn sustaining a number of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving conditions for toads – such as building water habitats, protecting forests and constructing amphibian passages – "we'll improve them for a whole bunch of other species."

Cultural Importance

An additional motive to try to keep toads present is their "important cultural value," notes an specialist. Myths and folklore around toads go back {centuries|hundred