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It is a Friday night at 7:30, but rather than going out or watching a film, I've taken a train to a market town in Wiltshire to join volunteers from a toad patrol. These committed people sacrifice their evenings to protect the native amphibian community.

A Worrying Drop in Population

The common toad is becoming increasingly rare. A recent research conducted by an amphibian and reptile charity revealed that the UK toad population have almost halved since the mid-1980s. Observing a creature that has been a stalwart of the British countryside in decrease is described as "worrying" by experts. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "should be able to live successfully in the majority of habitats in Britain," so if even they are struggling to persist, "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 research didn't examine the causes for the decline, cars certainly plays a part. Calculations indicate that 20 tonnes of toads are crushed on UK roads annually – that is, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which might be content to mate "if you left out a small container," toads prefer big bodies of water. Their ability to stay out of water for more time than frogs allows they can travel further to find them – often hundreds of metres. They usually follow their traditional paths – it's typical for mature amphibians to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Fittingly, the first toads begin their quest for a mate around February 14th, but others travel as late as spring, waiting until it gets dark and travelling through the night. During that time, toads start moving from wherever they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who was raised in the area and has been trying to protect its amphibians since he was a boy, explains that "Their sole purpose: 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.

Toad Patrols Across the UK

Seeing many of dead toads on local roads "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has led to the formation of toad patrols across the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a national initiative. These teams pick up toads and transport them over streets in containers, as well as recording the number of toads they find and lobbying 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 miss numbers of toadlets, which, having been spawn and then tadpoles, leave their ponds over an unpredictable schedule in the end of summer. Because of their small stature – just one or two centimetres wide – "they can get obliterated by car traffic." And as being run over "essentially crushes them," it's more difficult to collect information on them. At least when mature amphibians are lost, their remains can be counted.

Annual Efforts

In contrast to many groups, one local team, who are in their eighth year of functioning, go out year-round – not every night, but when weather are warm and wet, or if a member has reported about a toad sighting in their group chat. When I request to accompany them on duty, they concede it is "not a toady night" – toad hibernation season has started and it's been a arid period – but a few of the helpers willingly accept to patrol their route with me and see what we can find. "Should anyone can find any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the group coordinator, pointing to her teenage child and the experienced member. After for two hours without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have scaled a barbed wire fence to inspect beneath some wood.

Family Participation

The family duo joined the patrol a year and a half ago. The teenager loves all things wildlife and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his parent started to search for things they could do jointly to help native animals. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the middle-aged small business owner explains – so when the team was seeking a fresh coordinator lately, she volunteered for the role.

The teenager, too, has been instrumental in the group. A video he created, urging the municipal authority to close a road through a protected area during breeding time, influenced the outcome the group's way. After a twelve months of lobbying, the council approved an "access-only" restriction between evening and morning from February through to April. The majority of motorists duly avoided the route.

Other Wildlife and Difficulties

A few cars go by when I'm out on patrol and we find some victims as a consequence – no toads, but three squashed newts. We spot one living newt as well, and the youngster is particularly pleased to see a harvestman, which moves in his palms. Yet despite the team's best efforts to show me a toad, the local population has obviously gone dormant for the colder months. It seems that I couldn't have found any better success anywhere else in the nation – all the patrol groups I reach out to clarify that it's very difficult at this season.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

One email I receive from another volunteer, who has kindly taken the trouble to look for toads in a famous site, thought to be the largest accurately monitored 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 approximately ten thousand adult toads across the road.

Impact and Limitations

What level of impact 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 expert. "This effort that very much should be celebrated." However, while toad patrols are able to reduce the drop, they cannot prevent it entirely – not least because vehicles is just one danger.

Other Dangers

The climate crisis has resulted in extended spells of drought, which create the wrong conditions for some of the animals that toads eat, such as worms and slugs, while warmer ponds have led to an increase of toxic plants, which can be harmful to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to emerge from their hibernation more frequently, interfering with the energy conservation crucial to their life cycle. Habitat destruction – particularly the disappearance of large ponds – is another menace.

Researchers are "often concerned about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on wildlife," however "It's important in just their presence." But toads do have an significant part in the food chain, eating pretty much any small creatures or small animals they can fit in their mouths and in turn sustaining a variety of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving situations for toads – ie building water habitats, protecting forests and installing amphibian passages – "benefits for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Cultural Importance

An additional motive to work to preserve toads present is their "important cultural value," notes an expert. Legends and tales around toads go back {centuries|hundred