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It's Friday evening at 7:30, but instead of going out or watching a film, I've taken a train to a town in the countryside to meet up with volunteers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals give up their evenings to protect the native amphibian community.

A Worrying Drop in Population

The common toad is growing more rare. A latest study led by an amphibian and reptile charity revealed that the British common toad numbers have dropped by half since 1985. Seeing a creature that has been a stalwart of the British countryside in decline is labeled "concerning" by experts. Toads "don't require very particular environments" and "ought to live successfully in most of habitats in Britain," so 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 Traffic

Though the study didn't examine the causes for the drop, traffic certainly plays a part. Calculations suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are crushed on British roads every year – in other words, hundreds of thousands. Unlike 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 means they can journey farther to find them – often hundreds of metres. They usually follow their traditional paths – it's common for mature amphibians to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Breeding Patterns

Appropriately enough, the first toads start their journey for a partner around Valentine's day, but others travel as late as spring, waiting until it gets night and moving through the night. During that time, toads begin migrating from where they have been overwintering "all pretty much at the same time."

A local helper, who was raised 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 have an orgy." If their path crosses a street, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would be lost – stopping a next generation of toads from being produced.

Toad Patrols Throughout the United Kingdom

Seeing hundreds of toad carcasses on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has resulted in the creation of rescue teams across the UK – 274 groups are currently registered with a national initiative. These groups pick up toads and carry them across roads 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 migration season, when amphibian movements are more regular. However, this means they can overlook groups of toadlets, which, having been eggs and then tadpoles, exit their ponds over an irregular timetable in the end of summer. Because of their size – just one or two centimetres wide – "they can get obliterated by car traffic." And as being run over "essentially crushes them," it's more difficult to collect information on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their carcasses can be tallied.

Year-Round Work

Unlike most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth year of functioning, go out year-round – not every night, but whenever weather are damp, or if a member has posted about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on patrol, they concede it is "not ideal conditions" – winter dormancy has started and it's been a dry day – but a few of the helpers willingly accept to patrol their area with me and see what we can find. "Should anyone can find any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the patrol manager, pointing to her 14-year-old son and the longtime volunteer. We've been out for two hours without a single toad sighting, and now they have climbed over a wire barrier to check under some wood.

Community Involvement

The mother and son became part of the group a while back. The youngster loves all things nature-related and has an goal to become a environmentalist, so his parent started to search for activities they could do together to protect local wildlife. Now she loves it as much as he does, the middle-aged small business owner tells me – so when the team was seeking a fresh coordinator lately, she decided to step up.

The teenager, too, has been instrumental in the group. A video he created, imploring the local council to close a road through a nature reserve during breeding time, influenced the outcome the group's way. After a year of campaigning, the council approved an "access-only" rule between 5pm and 5am from February through to spring. The majority of motorists respected and avoided the road.

Additional Species and Challenges

A few vehicles go by when I'm out on duty and we discover some casualties as a result – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We spot one living newt as well, and the youngster is particularly pleased to see a harvestman, which moves in his hands. Yet despite the group's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the local population has clearly settled down for the colder months. It appears that I wouldn't have had any better success elsewhere in the nation – all the patrol groups I reach out to clarify that it's very difficult at this season.

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

One email I get from another volunteer, who has generously made the effort to look for toads in a famous site, thought to be the biggest tracked toad group in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the subject line: "None found." However, in late winter, he tells me, the team plans to assist around ten thousand adult toads over the street.

Effectiveness and Limitations

What level of impact can these organizations truly achieve? "The fact that people are performing this consistently on cold, damp and unpleasant evenings is quite extraordinary," notes an researcher. "This effort that very much should be celebrated." However, while toad patrols are able to reduce the drop, they can't stop it completely – partly since vehicles is just one danger.

Other Dangers

The climate crisis has resulted in longer periods 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 toxic plants, which can be toxic to toads. Warmer cold seasons also lead toads to emerge from their hibernation more frequently, disrupting the energy conservation vital to their existence. Habitat destruction – particularly the loss 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 important role in the food chain, consuming pretty much any small creatures or small animals they can fit in their mouths and in turn sustaining a variety of birds and mammals, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving conditions for toads – ie creating more ponds, protecting forests and installing amphibian passages – "we'll improve them for a wide range of additional wildlife."

Cultural Significance

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