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It is Friday evening at 7:30, but rather than going out or relaxing at home, I've taken a train to a town in the countryside to meet up with local helpers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals give up their evenings to protect the local toad population.

An Alarming Drop in Numbers

The common toad is growing more rare. A recent research led by an wildlife conservation group showed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since the mid-1980s. Observing a species that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decline is described as "concerning" by researchers. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "ought to live quite well in the majority of areas in the UK," meaning if even they are not managing to survive, "it indicates that things are not as they should be."

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

The Danger from Traffic

Though the study didn't examine the reasons for the decline, cars is a major factor. Calculations indicate that 20 tons of toads are killed on UK roads annually – that is, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which might be content to mate "with just a bucket of water," toads favor large ponds. Their ability to stay out of water for longer than frogs means they can journey farther to reach them – sometimes hundreds of metres. They usually follow their ancestral migration routes – it's common for mature amphibians to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Fittingly, the initial amphibians start their journey for a mate around February 14th, but some move as far as April, waiting until it gets night and moving after sunset. During that time, toads begin migrating from where they have been hibernating "all pretty much at the same time."

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

Rescue Groups Throughout the UK

Seeing hundreds of dead toads on local roads "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has resulted in the creation of toad patrols throughout the UK – 274 groups are officially listed with a national initiative. These groups collect toads and transport them across roads in containers, as well as counting the quantity of toads they encounter and advocating for other protection measures, such as blocked roads and underground wildlife tunnels.

Volunteers usually work during the migration season, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this implies they can overlook numbers of young toads, which, having existed as eggs and then tadpoles, exit their water habitats over an unpredictable schedule in late summer. Because of their small stature – just a couple of cm wide – "they can get obliterated by vehicles." And as being run over "basically turns them into mush," it's harder to collect information on them. At least when mature amphibians are lost, their remains can be counted.

Year-Round Efforts

In contrast to many groups, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth year of operating, go out year-round – not every night, but whenever conditions are damp, or if someone has posted about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on duty, they concede it is "not ideal conditions" – winter dormancy has started and it's been a dry day – but a few of the volunteers willingly accept to walk up and down their route with me and see what we can find. "If anyone can locate any toads tonight, that pair will spot one," says the group coordinator, indicating her 14-year-old son and the experienced member. After for two hours without a single toad sighting, and now they have climbed over a wire barrier to check under some logs.

Community Involvement

The family duo became part of 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 search for activities they could do jointly to help native animals. Now she loves it as much as he does, the 41-year-old entrepreneur tells me – so when the group was seeking a fresh coordinator lately, she decided to step up.

The youth, too, has played an important role in the group. A video he made, imploring the local council to block a street through a nature reserve during migration season, swung the decision the group's way. After a year of campaigning, the council approved an "access-only" rule between 5pm and 5am from February through to April. Most drivers duly avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Difficulties

Several vehicles go past when I'm out on duty and we discover some casualties as a result – no toads, but three squashed newts. We spot one living newt as well, and the youngster is particularly pleased to see a harvestman, which dances in his hands. Yet despite 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 elsewhere in the country – all the rescue teams I contact explain that it's very difficult at this season.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

One email I get from another volunteer, who has kindly made the effort to look for toads in a noted location, considered the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, reaches me with the subject line: "No toads." However, in late winter, he informs me, the group expects to help approximately ten thousand mature amphibians over the street.

Impact and Limitations

How much of a difference can these groups actually make? "The reality that people are doing this consistently on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is quite extraordinary," says an researcher. "This effort that very much should be celebrated." However, while toad patrols are able to reduce the drop, they can't stop it completely – partly since traffic is just one danger.

Additional Threats

The global warming has meant extended spells of drought, which cause the wrong conditions for some of the creatures that toads consume, such as invertebrates, while warmer ponds have caused an rise of blue-green algae, which can be toxic to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to emerge from their hibernation more often, disrupting the resource preservation crucial to their life cycle. Loss of environment – especially the disappearance of large ponds – is an additional threat.

Experts are "often concerned about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," but "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads play an important role in the ecosystem, eating almost any invertebrates or tiny organisms they can fit in their mouths and in turn sustaining a variety of birds and mammals, such as wildlife. Enhancing conditions for toads – ie building water habitats, conserving woodland and constructing toad tunnels – "we'll improve them for a whole bunch of other species."

Historical Importance

An additional motive to work to preserve toads present is their "historical significance," adds an specialist. Myths and folklore around toads go back {centuries|hundred