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It is a Friday night at 7:30, but rather than heading to the pub or watching a film, I've caught a train to a town in Wiltshire to join volunteers from a toad patrol. These committed people give up their evenings to protect the local toad population.

A Worrying Drop in Population

The common toad is growing more rare. A recent study led by an wildlife conservation group showed that the UK toad population have almost halved since the mid-1980s. Seeing a species that has been a fixture of the UK landscape in decline is labeled "concerning" by researchers. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "should be able to live quite well in the majority of habitats in the UK," meaning 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 Danger from Roads

Though the study didn't examine the reasons for the decline, cars certainly plays a part. Estimates suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are crushed on UK roads every year – in other words, 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 capacity to remain away from water for more time than frogs allows they can travel further to reach them – often hundreds of metres. They usually follow their ancestral migration routes – it's typical for adult toads to go back to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Patterns

Fittingly, the first toads begin their quest for a mate around February 14th, but some move as late as April, until it gets night and travelling after sunset. During that period, toads begin migrating from where they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who was raised in the area and has been trying to protect its toad population since he was a child, explains that "Their sole purpose: to go and have an orgy." If their path crosses a street, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would never happen – stopping a next generation of toads from being produced.

Toad Patrols Throughout the UK

Seeing hundreds of dead toads on local roads "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the formation of toad patrols throughout the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a national initiative. These teams pick up toads and transport them over streets in buckets, as well as recording the number of toads they find and lobbying for other protection measures, such as blocked roads and underground wildlife tunnels.

Patrols tend to operate during the breeding period, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this implies they can overlook numbers of young toads, which, having been spawn and then tadpoles, leave their water habitats over an irregular timetable in late summer. Because of their small stature – just a couple of cm wide – "they are destroyed by car traffic." And as being hit "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 most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth year of operating, go out year-round – not every night, but whenever weather are damp, or if someone has reported about a amphibian spotting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on duty, they admit 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 patrol their route with me and search for any toads. "Should anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two will spot one," says the patrol manager, indicating her teenage child and the experienced member. After for 120 minutes without a single toad sighting, and now they have climbed over a barbed wire fence to check under some logs.

Family Involvement

The family duo became part of the patrol a while back. The youngster adores all things wildlife and has an goal to become a environmentalist, so his mother started to search for things they could do together to help local wildlife. Now she loves it as much as he does, the 41-year-old entrepreneur tells me – so when the team was seeking a fresh coordinator lately, she volunteered for the role.

The youth, too, has been instrumental in the group. A video he created, urging the local council to block a street through a nature reserve during migration season, swung the decision the team's way. After a twelve months of lobbying, the authority approved an "restricted access" rule between evening and morning from February through to spring. The majority of motorists duly avoided the route.

Other Wildlife and Challenges

Several cars go past when I'm out on patrol and we find some victims as a consequence – no amphibians, but several crushed salamanders. We see one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is especially excited to see a harvestman, which dances in his hands. Yet in spite of the group's hardest attempts to show me a toad, the local population has obviously settled down for the colder months. It appears that I wouldn't have had any more luck elsewhere in the country – 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 a different helper, who has generously taken the trouble to look for toads in a famous site, thought to be the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the title: "No toads." However, in February and March, he tells me, the group plans to assist approximately ten thousand mature amphibians across the road.

Effectiveness and Challenges

How much of a difference can these groups truly achieve? "The reality that people are doing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is quite extraordinary," notes 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.

Other Dangers

The climate crisis has resulted in extended spells of drought, which create the wrong conditions for some of the creatures that toads consume, such as invertebrates, while warmer ponds have led to an increase of blue-green algae, which can be toxic to toads. Milder winters also lead toads to emerge from their dormancy more frequently, disrupting the energy conservation vital to their life cycle. Habitat destruction – especially the disappearance of big water bodies – is another menace.

Experts are "often concerned about overemphasizing practical benefits on wildlife," however "There is a big value in just having these animals around." But toads play an important role in the ecosystem, eating pretty much any small creatures or tiny organisms they can swallow and in turn feeding a variety of predators, such as wildlife. Enhancing conditions for toads – ie creating more ponds, protecting forests and constructing toad tunnels – "benefits for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Historical Importance

Another reason to try to keep toads present is their "important cultural value," adds an specialist. Legends and tales around toads date back {centuries|hundred