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It's a Friday night at half past seven, but instead of heading to the pub or relaxing at home, I've taken a train to a market town in Wiltshire to join volunteers from a toad patrol. These committed people give up their evenings to protect the local toad population.

An Alarming Decline in Numbers

The Bufo bufo is becoming increasingly uncommon. A recent study conducted by an amphibian and reptile charity revealed that the UK toad population have almost halved since the mid-1980s. Seeing a species that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decline is described as "concerning" by experts. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "ought to live successfully in most of habitats in Britain," so if even they are struggling to persist, "it kind of suggests that things are not as they should be."

The UK toad population has almost halved since 1985

The Threat from Roads

Though the study didn't cover the reasons for the drop, traffic certainly plays a part. Calculations indicate that 20 tons of toads are killed on British roads annually – that is, several hundred thousand. In contrast to frogs, which would probably be content to mate "with just a bucket of water," toads favor big bodies of water. Their capacity to remain away from water for longer than frogs means they can journey farther to find them – sometimes hundreds of metres. They tend to follow their traditional paths – it's typical for mature amphibians to return to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Appropriately enough, the first toads start their journey for a mate around February 14th, but some move as far as April, until it gets dark and moving through the night. During that time, toads start moving from where they have been hibernating "all pretty much at the same time."

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

Toad Patrols Throughout the United Kingdom

Seeing hundreds of toad carcasses on local roads "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has resulted in the creation of toad patrols throughout the UK – 274 groups are officially listed with a national initiative. These teams pick up toads and carry them over streets in buckets, as well as recording the number of toads they encounter and advocating for other safety solutions, such as road closures and underground wildlife tunnels.

Volunteers tend to operate during the migration season, when amphibian movements are frequent. However, this means they can overlook numbers of young toads, which, having been spawn and then tadpoles, leave their ponds over an irregular timetable in the end of summer. Because of their size – just one or two centimetres wide – "they can get obliterated by vehicles." 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 tallied.

Annual Efforts

Unlike most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth year of functioning, go out throughout the year – not every night, but when weather are warm and wet, or if a member has posted about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on patrol, they admit it is "not a toady night" – toad hibernation season has started and it's been a dry day – but several of the helpers willingly accept to walk up and down their area with me and search for any toads. "Should anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the patrol manager, pointing to her teenage child and the experienced member. After for 120 minutes 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 group a year and a half ago. The youngster loves all things nature-related and has an goal to become a environmentalist, so his mother started to look for things 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 fresh coordinator recently, she volunteered for the role.

The youth, too, has played an important role in the organization. A video he made, urging the local council to close a street through a nature reserve during breeding time, swung the decision the team's way. After a year of lobbying, the authority approved an "restricted access" rule between 5pm and 5am from late winter through to April. The majority of motorists respected and avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Difficulties

A few cars go by when I'm out on patrol and we discover some victims as a result – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We see one live amphibian as well, and the youngster is especially excited to see a harvestman, which moves in his hands. Yet despite the group'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 elsewhere in the nation – all the rescue teams I reach out to clarify that it's near-impossible at this season.

This team anticipates assisting around ten thousand mature toads over the street

A message I get from a different helper, who has kindly made the effort to look for toads in a noted location, thought to be the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the title: "No toads." However, in late winter, he tells me, the team plans to assist approximately 10,000 adult toads over the street.

Effectiveness and Challenges

How much of a difference can these groups actually make? "The fact that volunteers are doing this consistently on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is remarkable," says an expert. "This effort that very much should be celebrated." However, while rescue teams are able to slow the decline, they can't stop it completely – partly since vehicles is not the only threat.

Additional Threats

The global warming has meant extended spells of drought, which create the poor environment for some of the animals that toads consume, such as worms and slugs, while higher water temperatures have led to an increase of toxic plants, which can be harmful to toads. Warmer cold seasons also lead toads to wake up from their dormancy more frequently, disrupting the energy conservation vital to their existence. Habitat destruction – particularly the loss of big water bodies – is another menace.

Researchers are "often concerned about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," however "There is a big value in just having these animals around." But toads do have an significant part in the food chain, eating pretty much any small creatures or tiny organisms they can swallow and in turn feeding a variety of birds and mammals, such as wildlife. Enhancing situations for toads – such as building water habitats, conserving woodland and constructing amphibian passages – "we'll improve them for a whole bunch of other species."

Historical Importance

Another reason to work to preserve toads around is their "historical significance," notes an specialist. Myths and folklore around toads date back {centuries|hundred