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It is Friday night at half past seven, but rather than heading to the pub or watching a film, I've taken a train to a market town in the countryside to meet up with local helpers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals give up their evenings to protect the local toad population.

An Alarming Drop in Population

The Bufo bufo is becoming increasingly uncommon. A recent research led by an wildlife conservation group showed that the British common toad numbers have almost halved since the mid-1980s. Observing a species that has been a fixture of the UK landscape in decline is labeled "concerning" by researchers. 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 not managing to survive, "it kind of suggests that things are not as they should be."

The UK toad population has almost halved since 1985

The Danger from Traffic

Though the study didn't cover the causes for the decline, cars certainly plays a part. Estimates suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on British roads annually – that is, several hundred thousand. In contrast to frogs, which might be happy to mate "with just a bucket of water," toads favor large ponds. Their ability to remain away from water for more time than frogs allows they can travel further to reach them – sometimes long distances. 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 begin their quest for a partner around February 14th, but some move as late as April, waiting until it gets night and moving after sunset. During that time, toads start moving from wherever they have been overwintering "all pretty much at the same time."

A local helper, who was raised in the area and has been working to save its amphibians since he was a boy, explains that "Their sole purpose: to go and have an orgy." If their route happens to a road, they could all get run over, and that breeding season would be lost – preventing a next generation of toads from being born.

Rescue Groups Across the United Kingdom

Seeing many of dead toads on local roads "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the formation of toad patrols across the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a countrywide program. These teams collect toads and carry them over streets in containers, as well as counting the number of toads they encounter and lobbying for other protection measures, such as road closures and underground wildlife tunnels.

Patrols tend to operate during the migration season, when amphibian movements are frequent. However, this implies they can miss groups of toadlets, which, having been spawn and then tadpoles, exit their water habitats over an unpredictable schedule in the end of summer. Because of their size – just one or two centimetres wide – "they can get obliterated by vehicles." And as being hit "basically turns them into mush," it's harder to collect information on them. At least when mature amphibians are lost, their remains can be counted.

Annual Work

In contrast to many groups, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of operating, go out throughout the year – not nightly, but whenever weather are warm and wet, or if a member has reported about a toad sighting in their group chat. When I request to accompany them on patrol, they admit it is "not a toady night" – toad hibernation season has begun and it's been a arid period – but several of the helpers gamely agree to walk up and down their area with me and see what we can find. "Should anyone can find any toads tonight, those two will spot one," says the patrol manager, pointing to her teenage child and the experienced member. After for two hours without a single toad sighting, and now they have scaled a barbed wire fence to inspect beneath some wood.

Community Participation

The family duo became part of the patrol a while back. The teenager adores all things nature-related and has an goal to become a environmentalist, so his mother started to search for things they could do jointly to help native animals. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the 41-year-old entrepreneur tells me – so when the group was looking for a new manager lately, she volunteered for the role.

The teenager, too, has played an important role in the organization. A clip he made, imploring the municipal authority to block a road through a nature reserve during migration season, influenced the outcome the group's way. After a year of lobbying, the authority agreed to an "access-only" rule between 5pm and 5am from February through to spring. Most drivers duly avoided the route.

Additional Species and Challenges

A few vehicles go by when I'm out on patrol and we discover some casualties as a consequence – no amphibians, but three squashed newts. We see one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is especially excited to see a daddy longlegs, which moves in his hands. Yet despite the team's hardest attempts to show me a toad, the local population has obviously settled down for the colder months. It seems that I wouldn't have had any more luck anywhere else in the nation – all the patrol groups I reach out to clarify that it's near-impossible at this time of year.

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

One email I receive from another volunteer, who has generously taken the trouble to look for toads in a noted location, considered the biggest tracked toad group in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the title: "None found." However, in late winter, he informs me, the team expects to help around 10,000 mature amphibians over the street.

Impact and Limitations

What level of impact can these groups truly achieve? "The reality that volunteers are doing this consistently on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is remarkable," notes an researcher. "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 vehicles is not the only threat.

Additional Threats

The global warming has resulted in extended spells of dry weather, which cause the wrong conditions for some of the animals 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 cause toads to wake up from their hibernation more frequently, interfering with the resource preservation vital to their life cycle. Loss of environment – particularly the disappearance of large ponds – is an additional threat.

Researchers are "often concerned about overemphasizing practical benefits on biodiversity," however "It's important in just their presence." But toads play an significant part in the ecosystem, consuming almost any small creatures or tiny organisms they can fit in their mouths and in turn feeding a variety of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving situations for toads – ie building water habitats, conserving woodland and constructing amphibian passages – "benefits for a wide range of other species."

Cultural Significance

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