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It's Friday night at 7:30, but rather than heading to the pub or relaxing at home, I've caught a train to a town in Wiltshire to join local helpers from a amphibian rescue group. These dedicated individuals give up their evenings to safeguard the native amphibian community.

An Alarming Drop in Numbers

The common toad is becoming increasingly rare. A latest study conducted by an amphibian and reptile charity revealed that the British common toad numbers have almost halved since the mid-1980s. Seeing a species that has been a fixture of the UK landscape in decline is described as "worrying" by experts. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "ought to live successfully in the majority of areas in Britain," meaning if even they are not managing to survive, "it kind of suggests that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

Since 1985, Britain's toad numbers have nearly been cut in half

The Threat from Traffic

Though the study didn't cover the causes for the drop, traffic is a major factor. Calculations suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on British roads annually – that is, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which would probably be content to mate "with just a small container," toads prefer big bodies of water. Their capacity to stay out of water for more time than frogs allows they can journey farther to reach them – often hundreds of metres. They tend to follow their traditional paths – it's common for adult toads to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Migration Habits

Fittingly, the first toads begin their quest for a mate around Valentine's day, but others travel as far as April, until it gets night and moving through the night. During that period, toads start moving from wherever they have been overwintering "all pretty much at the same time."

A local helper, who was raised in the region and has been working to save its toad population since he was a child, explains that "Their sole purpose: to go and have an orgy." If their route crosses a street, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would never happen – stopping a new generation of toads from being produced.

Rescue Groups Throughout the UK

Finding many of toad carcasses on local roads "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has led to the formation of toad patrols across the UK – hundreds of organizations are currently registered with a national initiative. These groups collect toads and transport them across roads in containers, as well as recording the number of toads they encounter and lobbying for other protection measures, such as blocked roads and underground wildlife tunnels.

Patrols usually work during the breeding period, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this means they can miss numbers of toadlets, which, having been spawn and then tadpoles, exit their ponds over an irregular timetable in the end of 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 lost, their carcasses can be tallied.

Annual Work

In contrast to many groups, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of functioning, go out throughout the year – not nightly, but when weather are damp, or if someone has posted about a amphibian spotting in their group chat. When I request to accompany them on patrol, they concede it is "not a toady night" – toad hibernation season has begun and it's been a dry day – but a few of the volunteers willingly accept to patrol their area with me and see what we can find. "If anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the group coordinator, pointing to her teenage child and the longtime volunteer. After for two hours without a single toad sighting, and now they have climbed over a wire barrier to inspect beneath some logs.

Community Involvement

The family duo became part of the group a year and a half ago. The teenager adores all things wildlife and has an goal to become a environmentalist, so his parent started to search for things they could do together to protect local wildlife. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the 41-year-old entrepreneur tells me – so when the group was looking for a fresh coordinator lately, she volunteered for the role.

The youth, too, has played an important role in the organization. A clip he created, imploring the local council to block a road through a protected area during breeding time, influenced the outcome the group's way. After a year of campaigning, the authority agreed to an "access-only" rule between evening and morning from February through to April. Most drivers duly avoided the route.

Additional Species and Challenges

A few vehicles go by when I'm out on duty and we find some victims as a result – 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 palms. Yet despite the team's best efforts to show me a toad, the local population has clearly 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 reach out to explain that it's very difficult at this season.

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

One email I receive from a different helper, who has generously made the effort to check for toads in a noted location, considered the biggest tracked toad group in the UK, reaches me with the subject line: "None found." However, in February and March, he tells me, the group plans to assist around 10,000 mature amphibians across the road.

Impact and Limitations

What level of impact can these organizations actually make? "The fact that volunteers are doing this consistently on cold, damp and unpleasant evenings is quite extraordinary," notes an expert. "That's something that very much deserves recognition." However, while toad patrols are able to reduce the drop, they cannot prevent it entirely – partly since vehicles is not the only threat.

Other Dangers

The global warming has resulted in longer periods of drought, which cause the wrong conditions for some of the creatures that toads consume, such as worms and slugs, while warmer ponds have led to an increase of toxic plants, which can be toxic to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to wake up from their dormancy more frequently, disrupting the energy conservation crucial to their life cycle. Loss of environment – especially the disappearance of large ponds – is another menace.

Experts are "often concerned about overemphasizing practical benefits on biodiversity," however "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads do have an significant part in the food chain, consuming pretty much any invertebrates or small animals they can swallow and in turn sustaining a variety of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving situations for toads – ie building water habitats, protecting forests and constructing amphibian passages – "we'll improve them for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Cultural Significance

An additional motive to try to keep toads present is their "important cultural value," notes an expert. Legends and tales around toads go back {centuries|hundred