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It is Friday evening at half past seven, but rather than going out or relaxing at home, I've caught a train to a town in the countryside to join volunteers from a toad patrol. These committed people give up their nights to safeguard the local toad population.

An Alarming Drop in Numbers

The common toad is becoming increasingly rare. A recent research led by an amphibian and reptile charity showed that the UK toad population have almost halved since the mid-1980s. Observing a species that has been a stalwart of the UK landscape in decline is labeled "worrying" by researchers. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "should be able to live successfully in the majority of areas in the UK," so if even they are struggling to persist, "it indicates 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 cover the causes for the drop, cars is a major factor. Estimates indicate that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on British roads every year – that is, hundreds of thousands. In contrast to frogs, which might be happy to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads prefer large ponds. Their capacity to remain away from water for longer than frogs allows they can journey farther to reach them – sometimes hundreds of metres. They usually follow their ancestral migration routes – it's typical for mature amphibians to return to their birth pond to mate.

Migration Habits

Fittingly, the first toads begin their quest for a partner around February 14th, but others travel as far as spring, until it gets night and travelling after sunset. During that period, toads begin migrating from where 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 "They've got just one focus: to go and mate." If their route crosses a street, they could all get run over, and that mating period would never happen – preventing a next generation of toads from being born.

Rescue Groups Throughout the UK

Finding many of toad carcasses on local roads "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the creation of rescue teams across the UK – 274 groups are officially listed with a countrywide program. These groups pick up toads and carry them over streets in containers, as well as recording the number of toads they find and advocating for other protection measures, such as road closures and amphibian passages.

Volunteers tend to operate during the breeding period, when toad crossings are more regular. However, this implies they can miss numbers of young toads, which, having existed as spawn and then juveniles, exit their ponds over an unpredictable schedule in the end of summer. Because of their small stature – just one or two centimetres wide – "they are destroyed by vehicles." And as being run over "essentially crushes them," it's more difficult to get data on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their carcasses can be tallied.

Year-Round Work

Unlike many groups, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of functioning, go out throughout the year – not every night, but when weather are warm and wet, or if someone has posted about a amphibian spotting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on patrol, they concede it is "not a toady night" – toad hibernation season has started and it's been a dry day – but a few of the volunteers gamely agree to walk up and down their route with me and search for any toads. "If anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the patrol manager, pointing to her teenage child and the experienced member. We've been out for 120 minutes without a single toad sighting, and now they have climbed over a barbed wire fence to inspect beneath some logs.

Family Participation

The mother and son joined the group a year and a half ago. The youngster loves all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a conservationist, so his parent started to look for things they could do jointly to protect local wildlife. Now she loves it as much as he does, the middle-aged entrepreneur explains – so when the team was looking for a new manager lately, she decided to step up.

The teenager, too, has played an important role in the group. A clip he created, imploring the local council to block a street through a protected area 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 February through to April. Most drivers respected and avoided the road.

Additional Species and Challenges

Several vehicles go past when I'm out on duty and we find some victims as a result – no amphibians, but three squashed newts. We spot one living newt as well, and the teenager is particularly pleased to see a daddy longlegs, which dances in his hands. Yet despite the team's best efforts to let me see a toad, the native community has obviously gone dormant for the colder months. It seems that I wouldn't have had any more luck anywhere else in the country – all the rescue teams I reach out to explain that it's near-impossible at this season.

The group expects to help approximately 10,000 adult toads across the road

One email I receive from another volunteer, who has kindly made the effort to look for toads in a noted location, considered the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the title: "None found." However, in February and March, he tells me, the group plans to assist approximately 10,000 adult toads over the street.

Impact and Challenges

How much of a difference can these groups actually make? "The fact that people are doing 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 toad patrols are able to reduce the drop, they can't stop it completely – not least because vehicles is just one danger.

Additional Threats

The climate crisis has resulted in extended spells of dry weather, which cause the wrong conditions for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as worms and slugs, while warmer ponds have caused an increase of blue-green algae, which can be harmful to toads. Warmer cold seasons also lead toads to wake up from their dormancy more often, disrupting the resource preservation crucial to their life cycle. Habitat destruction – especially the loss of large ponds – is another menace.

Researchers are "often concerned about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," but "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads do have an significant part in the ecosystem, consuming pretty much any invertebrates or small animals they can fit in their mouths and in turn sustaining a number of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing situations for toads – such as building water habitats, conserving woodland and installing amphibian passages – "we'll improve them for a whole bunch of other species."

Cultural Significance

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