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It's Friday night at 7:30, but rather than going out or relaxing at home, I've caught a train to a market town in Wiltshire to join local helpers from a toad patrol. These committed people sacrifice their evenings to safeguard the native amphibian community.

A Worrying Decline in Numbers

The Bufo bufo is becoming increasingly uncommon. A recent study led by an wildlife conservation group revealed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since 1985. Seeing a creature that has been a stalwart of the UK landscape in decline is described as "concerning" by researchers. Toads "don't need very particular environments" and "should be able to live quite well in most of areas in the UK," so if even they are not managing to survive, "it indicates that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

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

The Threat from Traffic

Though the study didn't cover the causes for the drop, traffic certainly plays a part. Estimates indicate that 20 tons of toads are crushed on UK roads every year – that is, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which would probably be happy to mate "with just a bucket of water," toads favor big bodies of water. Their ability to remain away from water for more time than frogs means they can journey farther to find them – often long distances. They tend to follow their traditional paths – it's common for mature amphibians to go back to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Patterns

Appropriately enough, the first toads start their journey for a mate around February 14th, but some move as far as spring, waiting until it gets dark and travelling after sunset. During that period, toads start moving from where they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."

A local helper, who grew up in the area and has been trying to protect its amphibians since he was a boy, explains that "Their sole purpose: to go and have an orgy." If their route happens to a road, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would never happen – stopping a new generation of toads from being produced.

Rescue Groups Across the UK

Finding many of dead toads on nearby streets "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has resulted in the creation of toad patrols across the UK – 274 groups are currently registered with a countrywide program. These groups collect toads and carry them over streets in buckets, as well as recording the number of toads they find and advocating for other safety solutions, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Patrols usually work during the migration season, when amphibian movements are frequent. However, this implies they can overlook numbers of toadlets, which, having existed as spawn and then tadpoles, exit their water habitats 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 "essentially crushes them," it's harder to collect information on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their remains can be counted.

Annual Efforts

In contrast to most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth year of operating, go out year-round – not nightly, but when conditions are warm and wet, or if a member has reported about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I request to accompany 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 patrol their route with me and see what we can find. "If anyone can find any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the patrol manager, pointing to her 14-year-old son and the longtime volunteer. After for 120 minutes without a single toad sighting, and now they have scaled a wire barrier to inspect beneath some wood.

Family Involvement

The family duo joined the patrol a while back. The teenager loves all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a conservationist, so his parent started to look for things they could do together to help native animals. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the 41-year-old small business owner explains – so when the team was looking for a new manager lately, she decided to step up.

The teenager, too, has been instrumental in the group. A clip he created, imploring the municipal authority to block a road through a protected area during migration season, swung the decision the team's way. After a twelve months of lobbying, the council approved an "access-only" rule between 5pm and 5am from late winter through to April. Most drivers duly avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Challenges

A few cars go by when I'm out on patrol 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 especially excited to see a daddy longlegs, which dances in his palms. Yet in spite of the group's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the local population has clearly gone dormant for the colder months. It appears that I couldn't have found any more luck anywhere else in the country – all the patrol groups I contact clarify 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 another volunteer, who has kindly made the effort to look for toads in a noted location, thought to be the largest accurately monitored toad population in the UK, reaches me with the title: "None found." However, in late winter, he informs me, the group expects to help around ten thousand adult toads over the street.

Impact and Challenges

How much of a difference can these organizations truly achieve? "The reality that people are doing this consistently on cold, damp and unpleasant evenings is remarkable," says an researcher. "That's something that very much deserves recognition." However, while rescue teams are able to reduce the drop, they cannot prevent it entirely – partly since traffic is just one danger.

Other Dangers

The global warming has meant extended spells of drought, which create the wrong conditions for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as worms and slugs, while higher water temperatures have caused an increase of blue-green algae, which can be toxic to toads. Warmer cold seasons also lead toads to emerge from their dormancy more often, interfering with the resource preservation crucial to their existence. Habitat destruction – particularly the disappearance of big water bodies – is an additional threat.

Researchers are "often concerned about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," however "There is a big value 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 sustaining a variety of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing conditions for toads – such as creating more ponds, protecting forests and installing amphibian passages – "we'll improve them for a wide range of additional wildlife."

Cultural Importance

Another reason to try to keep toads present is their "historical significance," adds an specialist. Legends and tales around toads go back {centuries|hundred