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It is Friday evening at 7:30, but instead of heading to the pub or watching a film, I've taken a train to a market town in the countryside to join local helpers from a toad patrol. These committed people give up their nights to safeguard the native amphibian community.

A Worrying Decline in Numbers

The common toad is growing more uncommon. A latest study led by an amphibian and reptile charity revealed that the British common toad numbers have dropped by half since the mid-1980s. Seeing a creature that has been a stalwart of the UK landscape in decrease 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," meaning if even they are not managing to survive, "it indicates 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 causes for the drop, traffic certainly plays a part. Estimates suggest that 20 tons of toads are killed on British roads annually – that is, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which might be happy to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads prefer big bodies of water. Their capacity to stay out of water for more time than frogs means they can journey farther to find them – often hundreds of metres. They tend to stick to their ancestral migration routes – it's typical for mature amphibians to return to their birth pond to mate.

Migration Habits

Appropriately enough, the initial amphibians begin their quest for a partner around February 14th, but some move as late as April, until it gets dark and moving through the night. During that time, toads begin migrating from where they have been hibernating "all pretty much at the same time."

A local helper, who grew up in the area and has been trying to protect its amphibians since he was a boy, notes that "They've got just one focus: to go and mate." If their path crosses a road, they could all get run over, and that breeding season would be lost – preventing a new generation of toads from being produced.

Rescue Groups Throughout the UK

Finding many of dead toads on local roads "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the formation of toad patrols throughout the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a national initiative. These teams pick up toads and carry them over streets in buckets, as well as counting the quantity of toads they find and advocating for other safety solutions, such as road closures and underground wildlife tunnels.

Patrols 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 been eggs and then tadpoles, leave their ponds over an unpredictable schedule in the end of summer. Because of their small stature – just a couple of cm wide – "they are destroyed by vehicles." And as being hit "essentially crushes them," it's harder to get data on them. At least when adult toads are lost, their remains can be tallied.

Annual Work

Unlike many groups, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth year of operating, go out throughout the year – not every night, but whenever conditions are warm and wet, or if someone has reported about a amphibian spotting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on patrol, they admit it is "not ideal conditions" – winter dormancy has begun and it's been a dry day – but several of the volunteers willingly accept to patrol their area with me and see what we can find. "Should anyone can find any toads tonight, that pair 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 glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have climbed over a barbed wire fence to inspect beneath some logs.

Community Involvement

The family duo joined the group a year and a half ago. The teenager adores all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his parent started to look for activities they could do jointly to protect native animals. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the 41-year-old small business owner tells me – so when the team was looking for a fresh coordinator lately, she volunteered for the role.

The teenager, too, has been instrumental in the group. A clip he created, urging the local council to block a road through a protected area during migration season, swung the decision the team's way. After a year of lobbying, the council approved an "restricted access" restriction between 5pm and 5am from late winter through to spring. Most drivers duly avoided the route.

Additional Species and Difficulties

A few vehicles go by when I'm out on duty and we find some casualties as a result – no amphibians, but several crushed salamanders. We see one live amphibian as well, and the youngster is particularly pleased to see a daddy longlegs, which dances in his palms. Yet in spite of the team's hardest attempts to show me a toad, the local population has obviously gone dormant for the colder months. It seems that I wouldn't have had any more luck elsewhere in the country – all the rescue teams I contact clarify that it's near-impossible at this season.

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

A message I get from a different helper, who has kindly made the effort to check for toads in a noted location, considered the biggest tracked toad group in the UK, reaches me with the title: "No toads." However, in late winter, he tells me, the team expects to help around ten thousand adult toads across the road.

Impact and Limitations

What level of impact can these groups truly achieve? "The reality that volunteers are performing this consistently on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is remarkable," notes an expert. "This effort that very much deserves recognition." However, while rescue teams are able to slow the decline, they can't stop it completely – partly since traffic is not the only threat.

Other Dangers

The climate crisis has resulted in extended spells of drought, which cause the poor environment for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as worms and slugs, while higher water temperatures have led to an increase of toxic plants, which can be toxic to toads. Milder winters also lead toads to emerge from their hibernation more frequently, disrupting the resource preservation vital to their existence. Loss of environment – especially the disappearance of large ponds – is another menace.

Experts are "always a bit worried about overemphasizing practical benefits on wildlife," but "It's important in just their presence." But toads play an significant part in the ecosystem, consuming pretty much any small creatures or small animals they can swallow and in turn sustaining a number of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing conditions for toads – ie creating more ponds, conserving woodland and installing amphibian passages – "we'll improve them for a wide range of additional wildlife."

Historical Importance

An additional motive to work to preserve toads around is their "important cultural value," adds an expert. Myths and folklore around toads date back {centuries|hundred