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It's a Friday evening at half past seven, but rather than going out or relaxing at home, I've taken a train to a town in Wiltshire to meet up with local helpers from a toad patrol. These committed people give up their nights to protect the local toad population.

An Alarming Drop in Population

The common toad is growing more rare. A latest research conducted by an amphibian and reptile charity revealed that the British common toad numbers have dropped by half since 1985. Observing a species that has been a stalwart of the British countryside in decline is described as "worrying" by experts. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "should be able to live quite well in most of habitats in Britain," meaning if even they are struggling to persist, "it kind of suggests that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

The UK toad population has almost halved since 1985

The Danger from Roads

Though the study didn't cover the reasons for the decline, cars is a major factor. Estimates indicate that 20 tons of toads are crushed on UK roads every year – in other words, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which might be happy to mate "if you left out a small container," toads favor large ponds. Their capacity to stay out of water for more time than frogs allows they can travel further to reach them – often hundreds of metres. They tend to stick to their ancestral migration routes – it's common for adult toads to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Breeding Patterns

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

A local helper, who was raised 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 have an orgy." If their route crosses a road, they could all get run over, and that mating period would never happen – stopping a new generation of toads from being born.

Toad Patrols Throughout the UK

Seeing many of toad carcasses on local roads "resonates deeply with people," and has resulted in the creation of toad patrols across the UK – 274 groups are currently registered with a countrywide program. These groups collect toads and transport them across roads in buckets, as well as recording the number of toads they encounter and advocating for other protection measures, such as road closures and amphibian passages.

Volunteers usually work during the migration season, when toad crossings are more regular. However, this means they can overlook groups of young toads, which, having existed as spawn and then juveniles, exit their water habitats over an irregular timetable in late summer. Because of their small stature – just a couple of cm wide – "they can get obliterated by car traffic." And as being hit "essentially crushes them," it's harder to collect information on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their carcasses can be tallied.

Year-Round Work

In contrast to most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of operating, go out year-round – not nightly, but when conditions are warm and wet, or if a member has posted about a toad sighting in their group chat. When I request to accompany them on duty, they admit 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 route with me and see what we can find. "Should anyone can find any toads tonight, that pair will find one," says the group coordinator, pointing to her teenage child and the experienced member. We've been out for two hours without a single toad sighting, and now they have scaled a barbed wire fence to inspect beneath some logs.

Family Participation

The family duo joined the group a year and a half ago. The teenager loves all things nature-related and has an goal to become a environmentalist, so his parent started to search for things they could do jointly to help native animals. 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 volunteered for the role.

The youth, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A video he created, imploring the municipal authority to block a road through a nature reserve during migration season, swung the decision the group's way. After a year of campaigning, the authority agreed to an "restricted access" restriction between 5pm and 5am from late winter through to spring. Most drivers duly avoided the road.

Additional Species and Difficulties

Several vehicles go past when I'm out on patrol and we discover some casualties as a consequence – no toads, but three squashed newts. We spot one living newt as well, and the youngster is particularly pleased to see a daddy longlegs, which dances in his palms. Yet despite the group's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the local population has clearly settled down for the winter. It seems that I wouldn't have had any more luck anywhere else in the nation – all the patrol groups I reach out to explain that it's very difficult 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 generously made the effort to look for toads in a famous site, considered the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, reaches me with the subject line: "None found." However, in February and March, he tells me, the group expects to help around ten thousand mature amphibians across the road.

Effectiveness and Limitations

What level of impact can these groups truly achieve? "The reality that people are performing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant evenings is quite extraordinary," notes an researcher. "This effort 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 just one danger.

Additional Threats

The climate crisis 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 blue-green algae, which can be toxic to toads. Milder winters also lead toads to emerge from their dormancy more frequently, interfering with the energy conservation vital to their life cycle. Loss of environment – particularly the disappearance of big water bodies – is another menace.

Researchers are "often concerned about overemphasizing practical benefits on biodiversity," but "It's important 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 fit in their mouths and in turn feeding a variety of birds and mammals, such as wildlife. Enhancing situations for toads – ie creating more ponds, protecting forests and installing amphibian passages – "we'll improve them for a wide range of additional wildlife."

Historical Significance

Another reason to try to keep toads present is their "historical significance," adds an specialist. Legends and tales around toads date back {centuries|hundred