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It's a Friday night at half past seven, but rather than heading to the pub or watching a film, I've caught a train to a town in Wiltshire to meet up with local helpers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals sacrifice their nights to safeguard the local toad population.

A Worrying Decline in Numbers

The Bufo bufo is growing more uncommon. A latest research conducted by an amphibian and reptile charity showed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since 1985. Seeing a species that has been a fixture of the UK landscape in decrease is described as "concerning" by experts. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "ought to live successfully in the majority of areas in the UK," so if even they are struggling to persist, "it kind of suggests that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

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

The Threat from Traffic

Though the research didn't examine the causes for the drop, cars is a major factor. Calculations suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on British roads every year – that is, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which would probably be content to mate "with just a bucket of water," toads favor large ponds. Their capacity to remain away from water for longer than frogs means they can journey farther to find them – often long distances. They tend to follow their traditional paths – it's common for mature amphibians to return to their birth pond to mate.

Migration Habits

Appropriately enough, the initial amphibians start their journey for a mate around February 14th, but some move as late as spring, waiting until it gets night and travelling through the night. During that time, toads start moving from wherever they have been overwintering "all pretty much at the same time."

One volunteer, who grew up in the area and has been working to save its toad population since he was a boy, notes that "Their sole purpose: to go and mate." If their route crosses a street, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would be lost – preventing a new generation of toads from being born.

Toad Patrols Across the United Kingdom

Seeing many of toad carcasses on local roads "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has led to the creation of rescue teams throughout the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a national initiative. These groups pick up toads and transport them across roads in buckets, as well as counting the number of toads they encounter and lobbying for other protection measures, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Patrols usually work during the migration season, when amphibian movements are frequent. 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 late summer. Because of their small stature – just one or two centimetres wide – "they are destroyed by vehicles." And as being hit "essentially crushes them," it's harder to collect information on them. At least when adult toads are killed, their carcasses can be counted.

Annual Efforts

Unlike most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth season of functioning, go out year-round – not nightly, but whenever weather are damp, or if someone has posted about a amphibian spotting in their messaging app. When I request to accompany them on patrol, they admit it is "not ideal conditions" – winter dormancy has started and it's been a dry day – but several of the volunteers willingly accept to walk up and down their area with me and search for any toads. "Should anyone can find any toads tonight, that pair will find one," says the group coordinator, pointing to her 14-year-old son and the longtime volunteer. After for two hours without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have scaled a barbed wire fence to check under some wood.

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 ambition to become a conservationist, so his mother started to search for things they could do together to protect local wildlife. Now she loves it as much as he does, the middle-aged entrepreneur tells me – so when the group was looking for a new manager lately, she decided to step up.

The teenager, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A video he made, urging the local council to block a street through a protected area during breeding time, influenced the outcome the team's way. After a year of lobbying, the authority approved an "restricted access" restriction between evening and morning from February through to spring. Most drivers respected and avoided the route.

Other Wildlife and Challenges

A few vehicles go by when I'm out on patrol and we find some casualties as a result – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We see one living newt as well, and the teenager is particularly pleased to see a harvestman, which moves in his palms. Yet in spite of the team's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the local population has clearly gone dormant for the winter. It seems that I wouldn't have had any more luck anywhere else in the nation – all the rescue teams I reach out to explain that it's near-impossible at this season.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

A message I receive from a different helper, who has generously taken the trouble to look for toads in a famous site, considered the biggest tracked toad group in the UK, reaches me with the subject line: "No toads." However, in February and March, he tells me, the group plans to assist around ten thousand adult toads across the road.

Impact and Challenges

What level of impact can these organizations truly achieve? "The reality that people are performing this regularly on chilly, wet and miserable late nights is remarkable," says an researcher. "That's something that very much should be celebrated." However, while rescue teams are able to slow the decline, they can't stop it completely – not least because vehicles is not the only threat.

Other Dangers

The climate crisis has meant extended spells of dry weather, which create the poor environment for some of the creatures 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 lead toads to wake up from their dormancy more often, disrupting the energy conservation crucial to their existence. Habitat destruction – particularly the loss of large ponds – is an additional threat.

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 almost any invertebrates or tiny organisms they can fit in their mouths and in turn sustaining a number of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving conditions for toads – such as creating more ponds, conserving woodland and installing toad tunnels – "we'll improve them for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Cultural Significance

An additional motive to try to keep toads present is their "important cultural value," adds an expert. Myths and folklore around toads go back {centuries|hundred