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It's Friday night at half past seven, but rather than heading to the pub or relaxing at home, I've caught a train to a market town in the countryside to meet up with volunteers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals give up their evenings to safeguard the native amphibian community.

A Worrying Drop in Population

The common toad is growing more uncommon. A recent study conducted by an amphibian and reptile charity revealed that the British common toad numbers have dropped by half since the mid-1980s. Seeing a creature that has been a fixture of the UK landscape in decrease is labeled "concerning" by experts. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "should be able to live quite well in most of habitats in the UK," meaning 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 is a major factor. Calculations indicate that 20 tonnes of toads are crushed on UK roads every year – that is, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which would probably be happy to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads favor large ponds. Their capacity to stay out of water for longer than frogs means they can travel further to reach them – often hundreds of metres. They usually stick to their traditional paths – it's common for adult toads to return to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Patterns

Appropriately enough, the initial amphibians begin their quest for a partner around February 14th, but some move as late as April, waiting until it gets dark and travelling through the night. During that period, toads start moving from wherever they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."

A local helper, who grew up in the region and has been trying to protect its toad population since he was a child, explains that "They've got just one focus: to go and mate." If their path crosses 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 hundreds of dead toads on local roads "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has resulted in the formation of toad patrols across the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a national initiative. These teams pick up toads and carry them across roads in containers, as well as counting the quantity of toads they encounter and lobbying for other protection measures, such as blocked roads and underground wildlife tunnels.

Volunteers tend to operate during the migration season, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this means they can miss numbers of toadlets, which, having been eggs and then tadpoles, exit their water habitats over an irregular timetable in the end of summer. Because of their size – just a couple of cm wide – "they are destroyed by car traffic." And as being run over "essentially crushes them," it's more difficult to collect information on them. At least when adult toads are killed, their remains can be tallied.

Year-Round Work

In contrast to most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth year of functioning, go out throughout the year – not every night, but whenever weather are warm and wet, or if a member has reported about a toad sighting in their group chat. When I ask to join them on duty, they concede it is "not a toady night" – toad hibernation season has begun and it's been a dry day – but a few of the volunteers gamely agree 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, indicating her teenage child and the experienced member. We've been out for two hours without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have climbed over a barbed wire fence to inspect beneath some wood.

Family Involvement

The mother and son joined the patrol a while back. The teenager loves all things nature-related 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 middle-aged entrepreneur tells me – so when the team was seeking a new manager lately, she volunteered for the role.

The teenager, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A video he made, urging the local council to block a street through a protected area during breeding time, swung the decision the team's way. After a twelve months of lobbying, the council agreed to an "restricted access" restriction between evening and morning from February through to spring. The majority of motorists respected and avoided the road.

Additional Species and Challenges

Several cars go past when I'm out on duty and we find some casualties as a result – no amphibians, but several crushed salamanders. We see one living newt as well, and the youngster is especially excited to see a harvestman, which dances in his palms. Yet despite the group's best efforts to let me see a toad, the native community has clearly gone dormant for the colder months. It appears that I wouldn't have had any more luck anywhere else in the nation – all the patrol groups I reach out to explain that it's near-impossible at this time of year.

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

One email I get from a different helper, who has kindly made the effort to look for toads in a famous site, considered the largest accurately monitored toad population in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the title: "None found." However, in late winter, he informs me, the team expects to help around ten thousand mature amphibians over the street.

Effectiveness and Limitations

How much of a difference can these groups actually make? "The fact that volunteers are doing this consistently on chilly, wet and miserable late nights is remarkable," notes an researcher. "This effort that very much should be celebrated." However, while toad patrols are able to slow the decline, they can't stop it completely – not least because vehicles is not the only threat.

Other Dangers

The global warming has resulted in extended spells of dry weather, which cause the poor environment 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 cause toads to emerge from their dormancy more frequently, interfering with the resource preservation vital to their existence. Loss of environment – particularly the loss of big water bodies – is an additional threat.

Experts are "always a bit worried about overemphasizing practical benefits on wildlife," but "There is a big value in just having these animals around." But toads do have an significant part in the food chain, eating almost any small creatures or tiny organisms they can swallow and in turn sustaining a variety of birds and mammals, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving conditions for toads – ie building water habitats, protecting forests and installing amphibian passages – "benefits for a whole bunch of other species."

Historical Importance

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