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It's Friday evening at half past seven, but rather than heading to the pub or watching a film, I've taken a train to a market town in Wiltshire to meet up with local helpers from a toad patrol. These committed people give up their evenings to safeguard the native amphibian community.

An Alarming Drop in Population

The Bufo bufo is becoming increasingly uncommon. A recent research led by an wildlife conservation group revealed that the British common toad numbers have dropped by half since 1985. Seeing a species that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decline is described as "worrying" by researchers. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "ought to live successfully in the majority of areas in Britain," so if even they are not managing to survive, "it kind of suggests that things are not as they should be."

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

The Threat from Roads

Though the research didn't cover the reasons for the drop, cars is a major factor. Calculations suggest that 20 tons of toads are killed on UK roads every year – in other words, hundreds of thousands. In contrast to frogs, which would probably be happy to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads prefer large ponds. Their capacity to remain away from water for more time than frogs means they can travel further to reach them – sometimes hundreds of metres. They tend to stick to their ancestral migration routes – it's typical for mature amphibians to return to their natal pond to mate.

Migration Patterns

Fittingly, the initial amphibians begin their quest for a mate around Valentine's day, but some move as far as spring, until it gets night and moving after sunset. During that time, toads start moving from wherever they have been overwintering "all pretty much at the same time."

One volunteer, who was raised in the area and has been trying to protect its amphibians since he was a child, notes that "They've got just one focus: to go and have an orgy." If their path happens to a road, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would never happen – stopping a next generation of toads from being born.

Toad Patrols Across the UK

Seeing hundreds of toad carcasses on nearby streets "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has resulted in the formation of toad patrols throughout the UK – 274 groups are officially listed with a countrywide program. These groups pick up toads and carry them across roads in buckets, as well as recording the number of toads they find and lobbying for other safety solutions, such as road closures and amphibian passages.

Patrols tend to operate during the migration season, when amphibian movements are frequent. However, this implies they can miss groups 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 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 get data on them. At least when mature amphibians are lost, their remains can be tallied.

Year-Round Efforts

Unlike most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth year of operating, go out year-round – not nightly, but whenever conditions are damp, or if someone has reported about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I request to accompany them on duty, they concede it is "not a toady night" – winter dormancy has started and it's been a arid period – but several of the helpers gamely agree to patrol their area with me and see what we can find. "If anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the patrol manager, pointing to her 14-year-old son and the longtime volunteer. We've been out for 120 minutes without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have climbed over a barbed wire fence to inspect beneath some logs.

Family Involvement

The mother and son joined the patrol a year and a half ago. The teenager adores all things wildlife and has an goal to become a conservationist, so his parent started to search for activities they could do together to help native animals. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the middle-aged small business owner explains – so when the group was looking for a new manager lately, she volunteered for the role.

The teenager, too, has played an important role in the organization. A clip he created, imploring the municipal authority to close a street through a protected area during breeding time, influenced the outcome the group's way. After a twelve months of campaigning, the council approved an "restricted access" rule between 5pm and 5am from late winter through to April. The majority of motorists respected and avoided the route.

Additional Species and Difficulties

A few cars go past when I'm out on patrol and we discover some casualties as a result – no amphibians, but several crushed salamanders. We see one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is especially excited to see a daddy longlegs, which dances in his hands. Yet despite the team's best efforts to let me see a toad, the local population has clearly settled down for the winter. It appears that I couldn't have found any better success 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

A message I get from another volunteer, who has generously taken the trouble to look for toads in a noted location, considered the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, reaches me with the title: "No toads." However, in late winter, he tells me, the team plans to assist around 10,000 adult toads across the road.

Effectiveness and Challenges

What level of impact can these groups truly achieve? "The reality that people are performing this consistently on chilly, wet and miserable evenings is quite extraordinary," notes an researcher. "This effort that very much deserves recognition." However, while rescue teams are able to slow the decline, they cannot prevent it entirely – not least because vehicles is just one danger.

Additional Threats

The global warming has meant extended spells of dry weather, which create the poor environment for some of the animals that toads consume, such as worms and slugs, while warmer ponds have caused an rise of toxic plants, which can be harmful to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to wake up from their hibernation more frequently, disrupting the resource preservation crucial to their existence. Habitat destruction – especially the loss of large ponds – is an additional threat.

Researchers are "always a bit worried about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," but "There is a big value in just having these animals around." But toads play an significant part in the ecosystem, consuming pretty much any invertebrates or tiny organisms they can swallow and in turn sustaining a variety of predators, such as wildlife. Enhancing conditions for toads – ie creating more ponds, conserving woodland and constructing 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 date back {centuries|hundred