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It's a Friday night at 7:30, but instead of going out or watching a film, I've caught 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 nights to safeguard the native amphibian community.

An Alarming Drop in Numbers

The common toad is growing more uncommon. A latest research led by an amphibian and reptile charity showed that the British common toad numbers have dropped by half since the mid-1980s. Seeing a species that has been a fixture of the UK landscape in decrease is labeled "worrying" by researchers. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "ought to live quite well in the majority of habitats in Britain," meaning if even they are struggling to persist, "it indicates that things are not as they should be."

The UK toad population has almost halved since 1985

The Threat from Traffic

Though the research didn't cover the causes for the drop, cars is a major factor. Estimates suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on British roads every year – that is, several hundred thousand. In contrast to frogs, which would probably be happy to mate "with just a small container," toads prefer large ponds. Their capacity to remain away from water for longer than frogs means they can travel further to find them – sometimes hundreds of metres. They usually stick to their traditional paths – it's common for mature amphibians to go back to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Fittingly, the first toads begin their quest for a partner around February 14th, but some move as far as April, waiting until it gets dark and moving after sunset. During that period, toads start moving from wherever they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who grew up in the area and has been trying to protect its toad population since he was a child, notes that "Their sole purpose: to go and mate." If their path 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 born.

Rescue Groups Throughout the UK

Finding hundreds of dead toads on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has resulted in the formation of rescue teams across the UK – 274 groups are currently registered with a national initiative. These teams collect toads and carry them across roads in buckets, as well as counting the quantity of toads they find and advocating for other safety solutions, such as blocked roads and underground wildlife tunnels.

Volunteers usually work during the migration season, when amphibian movements are frequent. However, this implies they can overlook numbers of toadlets, which, having existed as eggs and then juveniles, leave their water habitats over an unpredictable schedule 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 get data on them. At least when adult toads are killed, their remains can be tallied.

Year-Round Efforts

In contrast to most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of functioning, go out throughout the year – not nightly, but when conditions are warm and wet, or if someone has posted about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I request to accompany them on patrol, they admit it is "not ideal conditions" – toad hibernation season has begun and it's been a dry day – but a few of the helpers gamely agree to walk up and down their area with me and search for any toads. "Should anyone can locate any toads tonight, that pair will spot one," says the patrol manager, indicating her teenage child and the experienced member. We've been out for two hours without a single toad sighting, and now they have climbed over a wire barrier to inspect beneath some logs.

Community Participation

The mother and son became part of the patrol a while back. The youngster adores all things wildlife and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his mother started to search for things they could do together to help local wildlife. Now she loves it as much as he does, the middle-aged small business owner explains – so when the group was looking for a fresh coordinator lately, she decided to step up.

The youth, too, has played an important role in the organization. A clip he made, urging the municipal authority to close a street through a nature reserve during breeding time, influenced the outcome the group's way. After a year of campaigning, the council agreed to an "access-only" restriction between evening and morning from February through to April. Most drivers duly avoided the route.

Other Wildlife and Difficulties

Several cars go by when I'm out on patrol and we find some victims as a consequence – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We spot one living newt as well, and the teenager is particularly pleased to see a daddy longlegs, which dances 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 winter. It seems that I couldn't have found any more luck anywhere else in the nation – all the rescue teams I reach out to clarify that it's very difficult at this time of year.

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

A message I receive from a different helper, who has generously made the effort to check for toads in a noted location, thought to be the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the title: "No toads." However, in February and March, he informs me, the team plans to assist approximately ten thousand adult toads across the road.

Effectiveness and Limitations

What level of impact can these groups actually make? "The reality that people are doing this consistently on cold, damp and unpleasant evenings is remarkable," says an expert. "That's something that very much should be celebrated." However, while rescue teams are able to slow the decline, they cannot prevent it entirely – not least because traffic is just one danger.

Additional Threats

The climate crisis has resulted in extended spells of drought, which cause the poor environment for some of the animals that toads eat, such as invertebrates, while higher water temperatures have led to an increase of blue-green algae, which can be toxic to toads. Warmer cold seasons also lead toads to wake up from their hibernation more often, interfering with the energy conservation vital to their life cycle. Loss of environment – particularly the disappearance of big water bodies – is another menace.

Experts are "always a bit worried about overemphasizing practical benefits on biodiversity," but "There is a big value in just having these animals around." 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 birds and mammals, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing situations for toads – such as building water habitats, conserving woodland and installing toad tunnels – "benefits for a wide range of other species."

Cultural Importance

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