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It's a Friday evening at half past seven, but instead of going out or watching a film, I've caught a train to a town in Wiltshire to join volunteers from a toad patrol. These committed people give up their nights to protect the native amphibian community.

An Alarming Decline in Numbers

The Bufo bufo is becoming increasingly rare. A recent study conducted by an wildlife conservation group revealed that the British common toad numbers have almost halved since 1985. Observing a creature that has been a stalwart of the UK landscape in decrease is labeled "concerning" by experts. Toads "don't need very particular environments" and "ought to live successfully in most of areas in Britain," meaning 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 study didn't cover the causes for the decline, traffic certainly plays a part. Calculations indicate that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on UK roads annually – that is, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which might be content to mate "with just a small container," toads favor big bodies of water. Their ability to remain away from water for longer than frogs allows they can travel further to find them – sometimes long distances. They usually stick to their ancestral migration routes – it's typical for adult toads to go back to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Patterns

Fittingly, the initial amphibians start their journey for a mate around Valentine's day, but some move as late as spring, until it gets dark and travelling through the night. During that time, toads begin migrating from where they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who grew up in the region and has been working to save its toad population since he was a boy, explains that "Their sole purpose: to go and mate." If their route happens to a street, they could all get run over, and that breeding season would never happen – preventing a new generation of toads from being produced.

Rescue Groups Throughout the UK

Finding many of toad carcasses on nearby streets "inherently strikes a chord 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 transport them across roads in buckets, as well as counting the number of toads they encounter and lobbying for other protection measures, such as road closures and amphibian passages.

Volunteers usually work during the migration season, when amphibian movements are frequent. However, this implies they can miss numbers of young toads, which, having existed as eggs and then juveniles, leave their water habitats over an irregular timetable in late summer. Because of their size – just a couple of cm wide – "they are destroyed by car traffic." And as being run over "essentially crushes them," it's harder to get data on them. At least when adult toads are killed, their carcasses can be tallied.

Annual Work

Unlike many groups, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of operating, go out throughout the year – not nightly, but when conditions are damp, or if someone has reported about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I request to accompany them on duty, they concede it is "not a toady night" – toad hibernation season has started and it's been a arid period – but a few of the helpers 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 spot one," says the patrol manager, pointing to her teenage child and the experienced member. After for two hours without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have scaled a wire barrier to check under some logs.

Family Involvement

The mother and son became part of the group a year and a half ago. The youngster adores all things nature-related and has an goal to become a conservationist, so his parent started to look for activities they could do together to help local wildlife. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the 41-year-old small business owner tells me – so when the team was seeking a fresh coordinator recently, she volunteered for the role.

The youth, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A clip he created, urging the municipal authority to block a road through a nature reserve during breeding time, swung the decision the group's way. After a year of lobbying, the authority approved an "restricted access" rule between 5pm and 5am from February through to April. The majority of motorists duly avoided the road.

Additional Species and Challenges

Several cars go past when I'm out on duty and we discover some casualties as a result – no amphibians, but several crushed salamanders. We see one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is especially excited 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 obviously settled down for the colder months. It appears that I wouldn't have had any more luck elsewhere in the country – all the rescue teams I contact explain that it's near-impossible at this time of year.

This team anticipates assisting around ten thousand mature toads over the street

One email I receive from a different helper, who has kindly taken the trouble to look for toads in a famous site, considered the largest accurately monitored toad population in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the title: "No toads." However, in late winter, he tells me, the team expects to help approximately ten thousand adult toads over the street.

Effectiveness and Limitations

What level of impact can these groups actually make? "The reality that people are doing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant evenings is quite extraordinary," notes an expert. "That's something that very much deserves recognition." However, while rescue teams are able to reduce the drop, they can't stop it completely – not least because vehicles is not the only threat.

Other Dangers

The global warming has resulted in extended spells of dry weather, which create the poor environment for some of the animals that toads consume, such as worms and slugs, while warmer ponds have caused an increase of blue-green algae, which can be harmful to toads. Milder winters also lead toads to emerge from their dormancy more frequently, interfering with the energy conservation crucial to their existence. Habitat destruction – particularly the loss of big water bodies – is another menace.

Experts are "often concerned about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on wildlife," but "There is a big value in just having these animals around." But toads do have an significant part in the ecosystem, eating pretty much any invertebrates or small animals they can fit in their mouths and in turn sustaining a variety of predators, such as wildlife. Enhancing conditions for toads – such as creating more ponds, protecting forests and constructing toad tunnels – "benefits for a wide range of other species."

Cultural Importance

An additional motive to work to preserve toads present is their "historical significance," notes an specialist. Myths and folklore around toads go back {centuries|hundred