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It's Friday evening at 7:30, but rather than heading to the pub or watching a film, I've taken a train to a town in the countryside to meet up with volunteers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals give up their evenings to protect the native amphibian community.

An Alarming Decline in Numbers

The common toad is growing more uncommon. A recent research 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 stalwart of the British countryside in decline is described as "concerning" by researchers. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "ought to live successfully in the majority of habitats in the UK," meaning if even they are not managing to survive, "it indicates that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

Toad populations across the UK have declined by almost 50% since the 1980s

The Threat from Traffic

Though the research didn't examine the causes for the drop, traffic certainly plays a part. Estimates indicate that 20 tons of toads are killed on UK roads annually – that is, hundreds of thousands. In contrast to frogs, which would probably be content to mate "with just a bucket of water," toads favor large ponds. Their ability to remain away from water for longer than frogs means they can travel further to reach them – sometimes hundreds of metres. They tend to follow their ancestral migration routes – it's common for mature amphibians to return to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Appropriately enough, the first toads begin their quest for a mate around Valentine's day, but others travel as far as spring, waiting until it gets dark and travelling through the night. During that period, toads begin migrating from wherever they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."

A local helper, who grew up in the area and has been trying to protect its toad population since he was a child, notes that "They've got just one focus: to go and have an orgy." If their path crosses a street, they could all get run over, and that breeding season would never happen – stopping a next generation of toads from being born.

Rescue Groups Throughout the UK

Seeing hundreds of toad carcasses on local roads "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the formation of rescue teams throughout the UK – 274 groups are officially listed with a national initiative. These groups pick up toads and transport them across roads in buckets, as well as recording the quantity of toads they find and advocating for other safety solutions, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Volunteers usually work during the migration season, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this implies they can miss groups of toadlets, which, having been spawn and then juveniles, leave their ponds over an irregular timetable in late summer. Because of their small stature – just a couple of cm wide – "they can get obliterated by car traffic." And as being hit "basically turns them into mush," it's harder to get data on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their carcasses can be counted.

Year-Round Efforts

In contrast to many groups, one local team, who are in their eighth season of operating, go out throughout the year – not every night, but whenever conditions are damp, or if someone has posted about a amphibian spotting in their group chat. When I ask to join them on patrol, they concede it is "not a toady night" – winter dormancy has begun and it's been a dry day – but several of the volunteers willingly accept to walk up and down their route with me and search for any toads. "Should anyone can locate any toads tonight, that pair will spot one," says the group coordinator, indicating her 14-year-old son and the longtime volunteer. We've been out for two hours without a single toad sighting, and now they have climbed over a wire barrier to check under some wood.

Family Participation

The mother and son became part of the group a while back. The youngster loves all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a conservationist, so his parent started to look for activities they could do together to protect native animals. Now she loves it as much as he does, the 41-year-old entrepreneur tells me – so when the team was seeking a new manager recently, she volunteered for the role.

The youth, too, has played an important role in the group. A video he made, urging the local council to block a street through a protected area during migration season, swung the decision the team's way. After a year of campaigning, the council agreed to an "restricted access" restriction between evening and morning from February through to spring. The majority of motorists duly avoided the road.

Additional Species and Difficulties

Several vehicles go by when I'm out on duty and we find some victims as a result – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We spot one live amphibian as well, and the youngster is particularly pleased to see a daddy longlegs, which dances in his palms. Yet in spite of the team's hardest attempts to show me a toad, the local population has clearly gone dormant for the winter. It appears that I couldn't have found any more luck elsewhere in the country – all the rescue teams I reach out to clarify that it's near-impossible at this season.

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

A message I get from a different helper, who has kindly taken the trouble to check for toads in a noted location, thought to be the biggest tracked toad group in the UK, reaches me with the title: "No toads." However, in February and March, he informs me, the group expects to help around 10,000 adult toads across the road.

Effectiveness and Limitations

How much of a difference can these groups truly achieve? "The fact that volunteers are doing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant evenings is quite extraordinary," notes an researcher. "That's something that very much deserves recognition." However, while toad patrols are able to reduce the drop, 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 animals that toads consume, such as worms and slugs, while higher water temperatures have caused an rise of toxic plants, which can be toxic to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to wake up from their dormancy more often, disrupting the energy conservation crucial to their existence. Loss of environment – especially the loss of large ponds – is another menace.

Researchers are "always a bit worried about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on wildlife," but "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads do have an important role in the ecosystem, consuming almost any invertebrates or small animals they can fit in their mouths and in turn sustaining a number of birds and mammals, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving conditions for toads – such as building water habitats, protecting forests and installing amphibian passages – "benefits for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Historical Importance

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