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It is Friday night at 7:30, but instead of heading to the pub or relaxing at home, I've caught a train to a market town in the countryside to join volunteers from a toad patrol. These committed people give up their nights to protect the local toad population.

A Worrying Decline in Population

The Bufo bufo is becoming increasingly rare. A recent research led by an amphibian and reptile charity showed that the UK toad population have almost halved since 1985. Seeing a species that has been a stalwart of the UK landscape in decrease is labeled "worrying" by experts. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "ought to live quite well in the majority of areas in the UK," meaning if even they are not managing to survive, "it indicates 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 reasons for the decline, cars is a major factor. Calculations suggest that 20 tons of toads are crushed on British roads every year – in other words, several hundred thousand. In contrast to frogs, which might be happy to mate "if you left out a small container," toads favor large ponds. Their ability to remain away from water for more time than frogs means they can journey farther to reach them – often long distances. They tend to stick to their ancestral migration routes – it's common for adult toads to return to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Fittingly, the initial amphibians begin their quest for a mate around Valentine's day, but others travel as far as spring, waiting until it gets dark and travelling after sunset. During that time, toads begin migrating from wherever they have been hibernating "all pretty much at the same time."

One volunteer, who was raised in the area and has been working to save its amphibians since he was a boy, explains that "They've got just one focus: to go and have an orgy." If their route crosses a street, they could be killed by traffic, and that mating period would never happen – stopping a next generation of toads from being born.

Rescue Groups Across the UK

Finding hundreds of dead toads on nearby streets "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has resulted in the formation of rescue teams throughout the UK – 274 groups are officially listed with a countrywide program. These groups collect toads and transport them across roads in buckets, as well as counting the number of toads they find and lobbying for other protection measures, such as road closures and amphibian passages.

Patrols tend to operate during the breeding period, when amphibian movements are more regular. However, this implies they can overlook groups of toadlets, which, having been spawn and then juveniles, leave their water habitats over an irregular timetable in the end of summer. Because of their size – just one or two centimetres wide – "they are destroyed by car traffic." And as being hit "essentially crushes them," it's more difficult to get data on them. At least when adult toads are lost, their carcasses can be tallied.

Year-Round Efforts

Unlike many groups, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth year of functioning, go out year-round – not every night, but whenever conditions are damp, or if someone has reported about a amphibian spotting in their group chat. When I request to accompany them on duty, they admit 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 locate any toads tonight, those two will spot one," says the patrol manager, indicating her 14-year-old son and the longtime volunteer. After for two hours without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have climbed over a wire barrier to inspect beneath some logs.

Community Participation

The family duo became part of the group a year and a half ago. The teenager loves all things wildlife and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his mother 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 entrepreneur explains – 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 made, urging the local council to close a road through a protected area during breeding time, swung the decision the group's way. After a year of lobbying, the council agreed to an "access-only" restriction between evening and morning from February through to April. Most drivers duly avoided the road.

Additional Species and Challenges

Several cars go past when I'm out on duty and we find some victims as a consequence – no amphibians, but three squashed newts. We spot one living newt as well, and the teenager is especially excited to see a harvestman, which dances in his palms. Yet in spite of the group's hardest attempts to show me a toad, the native community has obviously settled down for the colder months. It appears that I couldn't have found any more luck anywhere else in the nation – all the patrol groups I contact explain that it's very difficult at this season.

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

One email I get from another volunteer, who has generously taken the trouble to look for toads in a noted location, considered the largest accurately monitored toad population in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the title: "No toads." However, in February and March, he tells me, the team plans to assist approximately ten thousand mature amphibians over the street.

Effectiveness and Limitations

What level of impact can these organizations truly achieve? "The fact that volunteers are performing this consistently on chilly, wet and miserable evenings is remarkable," says an researcher. "That's something that very much should be celebrated." However, while toad patrols are able to slow the decline, they cannot prevent it entirely – partly since traffic is just one danger.

Other Dangers

The global warming has meant extended spells of dry weather, which create the wrong conditions for some of the animals that toads consume, such as invertebrates, while warmer ponds have led to an increase of blue-green algae, which can be toxic to toads. Milder winters also lead toads to emerge from their dormancy more frequently, disrupting the resource preservation vital to their existence. Loss of environment – especially the disappearance of big water bodies – is another menace.

Researchers are "often concerned about overemphasizing practical benefits on wildlife," but "There is a big value in just having these animals around." But toads do have an important role in the food chain, eating almost any small creatures or small animals they can swallow and in turn sustaining a number of birds and mammals, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing conditions for toads – ie building water habitats, protecting forests and constructing toad tunnels – "benefits for a wide range of additional wildlife."

Historical Significance

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