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It's Friday night at 7:30, but rather than going out or watching a film, I've caught a train to a town in Wiltshire to meet up with volunteers from a toad patrol. These committed people sacrifice their nights to protect the local toad population.

A Worrying Decline in Numbers

The common toad is growing more uncommon. A latest research led by an wildlife conservation group showed that the British common toad numbers have almost halved since 1985. Seeing a creature that has been a stalwart of the British countryside in decline is labeled "worrying" by experts. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "should be able to live quite well in the majority of areas in Britain," meaning if even they are struggling to persist, "it kind of suggests that things are not as they should be."

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

The Threat from Traffic

Though the study didn't examine the reasons for the drop, cars is a major factor. Estimates indicate that 20 tons of toads are killed on UK roads annually – in other words, several hundred thousand. In contrast to frogs, which might be happy to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads prefer big bodies of water. Their capacity to remain away from water for more time than frogs means they can travel further to find them – often long distances. They tend to stick to their ancestral migration routes – it's typical for adult toads to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Migration Habits

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

A local helper, who was raised in the region and has been working to save its amphibians since he was a child, explains that "They've got just one focus: to go and mate." If their route happens to a street, they could be killed by traffic, and that mating period would never happen – preventing a next generation of toads from being born.

Rescue Groups Across the UK

Finding many of toad carcasses on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the formation of rescue teams across the UK – 274 groups are officially listed with a countrywide program. These teams collect toads and carry them across roads in containers, as well as counting the quantity of toads they find and advocating for other safety solutions, such as blocked roads and underground wildlife tunnels.

Volunteers usually work during the breeding period, when amphibian movements are more regular. However, this means they can miss groups of young toads, which, having existed as eggs and then juveniles, exit their ponds over an unpredictable schedule in the end of summer. Because of their size – just a couple of cm wide – "they can get obliterated by vehicles." And as being run over "essentially crushes them," it's harder to get data on them. At least when adult toads are lost, their carcasses can be counted.

Annual Efforts

In contrast to most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth year of operating, go out year-round – not nightly, but when conditions are damp, or if someone has reported about a amphibian spotting in their group chat. When I ask to join them on duty, they concede it is "not a toady night" – winter dormancy has begun and it's been a dry day – but a few of the volunteers willingly accept to walk up and down their area with me and see what we can find. "Should anyone can find any toads tonight, those two will spot one," says the group coordinator, 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 scaled a wire barrier to check under some logs.

Family Participation

The family duo became part of the patrol a year and a half ago. The youngster adores all things nature-related and has an goal to become a environmentalist, so his parent started to search for things they could do together to protect local wildlife. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the 41-year-old entrepreneur tells me – so when the group was looking for a new manager recently, she decided to step up.

The youth, too, has been instrumental in the group. A video he made, urging the local council to close a street through a nature reserve during breeding time, swung the decision the group's way. After a twelve months of lobbying, the council approved an "restricted access" rule between 5pm and 5am from February through to spring. The majority of motorists duly avoided the road.

Additional Species and Challenges

A few cars go by when I'm out on duty and we discover some victims as a result – no toads, but three squashed newts. We see one living newt as well, and the teenager is especially excited to see a daddy longlegs, which dances in his palms. Yet despite the team's best efforts to show me a toad, the native community has clearly settled down for the winter. It seems that I couldn't have found any better success elsewhere in the nation – all the rescue teams I reach out to clarify that it's near-impossible at this time of year.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

A message I receive from another volunteer, who has kindly taken the trouble to check for toads in a famous site, considered the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, reaches me with the subject line: "None found." However, in late winter, he tells me, the team expects to help around 10,000 adult toads across the road.

Impact and Challenges

How much of a difference can these organizations truly achieve? "The fact that people are performing this consistently on chilly, wet and miserable evenings is remarkable," notes an expert. "This effort that very much deserves recognition." However, while toad patrols are able to slow the decline, they cannot prevent it entirely – partly since vehicles is just one danger.

Other Dangers

The global warming has meant extended spells of dry weather, which cause the wrong conditions for some of the animals that toads eat, such as invertebrates, while warmer ponds have caused an rise of toxic plants, which can be toxic to toads. Milder winters also cause toads to wake up from their dormancy more frequently, disrupting the energy conservation crucial to their existence. Habitat destruction – especially the loss of big water bodies – is an additional threat.

Researchers are "always a bit worried about overemphasizing practical benefits on wildlife," but "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 small animals they can swallow and in turn sustaining a variety of birds and mammals, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing conditions for toads – such as building water habitats, conserving woodland and constructing amphibian passages – "benefits for a wide range of additional wildlife."

Cultural Importance

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