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It's Friday evening at half past seven, but instead of heading to the pub 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 protect the native amphibian community.

A Worrying Drop in Numbers

The Bufo bufo is growing more uncommon. A recent study conducted by an wildlife conservation group showed that the UK toad population have almost halved since 1985. Observing a species that has been a stalwart of the British countryside in decrease is labeled "worrying" by researchers. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "should be able to live successfully in most of habitats in Britain," so if even they are not managing to survive, "it indicates that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

Toad populations across the UK have declined by almost 50% since the 1980s

The Danger from Traffic

Though the study didn't examine the causes for the drop, cars is a major factor. Estimates suggest that 20 tons of toads are killed on UK roads annually – in other words, several hundred thousand. In contrast to frogs, which might be content to mate "with just a small container," toads prefer large ponds. Their ability to stay out of water for more time than frogs means they can journey farther to find them – sometimes hundreds of metres. They usually stick to their traditional paths – it's typical for adult toads to return to their birth pond to mate.

Migration Habits

Fittingly, the initial amphibians begin their quest for a mate around Valentine's day, but some move as far as spring, until it gets dark and travelling through the night. During that time, 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 amphibians since he was a boy, notes that "They've got just one focus: to go and mate." If their path crosses a road, they could all get run over, and that mating period would never happen – preventing a new generation of toads from being born.

Toad Patrols Throughout the UK

Finding many of toad carcasses on nearby streets "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has resulted in the formation of toad patrols across the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a national initiative. These groups collect toads and carry them over streets in containers, as well as recording the number of toads they encounter and lobbying for other protection measures, such as road closures and amphibian passages.

Volunteers usually work during the breeding period, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this implies they can miss groups of young toads, which, having existed as spawn and then tadpoles, exit their water habitats 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 "basically turns them into mush," it's harder to collect information on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their remains can be counted.

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 conditions are damp, or if a member has posted about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on duty, they admit it is "not ideal conditions" – winter dormancy has begun and it's been a arid period – but a few of the volunteers willingly accept to patrol their area with me and see what we can find. "Should anyone can locate any toads tonight, that pair will spot one," says the patrol manager, indicating her 14-year-old son and the longtime volunteer. We've been out for 120 minutes without a single toad sighting, and now they have climbed over a wire barrier to inspect beneath some wood.

Family Participation

The family duo became part of the group a while back. The teenager loves all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a conservationist, so his mother started to look for things they could do jointly to protect local wildlife. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the 41-year-old entrepreneur tells me – so when the team was looking for a new manager recently, she decided to step up.

The teenager, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A clip he made, urging the local council to block a road through a protected area during migration season, swung the decision the group's way. After a twelve months of lobbying, the council approved an "restricted access" restriction between evening and morning from February through to spring. The majority of motorists respected and avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Difficulties

A few cars go by when I'm out on patrol and we discover some victims as a consequence – no amphibians, but several crushed salamanders. We see one live amphibian as well, and the youngster is particularly pleased to see a daddy longlegs, which dances in his hands. 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 seems that I wouldn't have had any better success elsewhere in the country – all the patrol groups I contact explain that it's near-impossible at this season.

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

One email I receive from another volunteer, who has generously taken the trouble to check for toads in a famous site, considered the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, reaches me with the title: "No toads." However, in late winter, he informs me, the group plans to assist around ten thousand adult toads across the road.

Effectiveness and Limitations

What level of impact can these organizations truly achieve? "The reality that volunteers are doing this consistently on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is quite extraordinary," notes an researcher. "This effort that very much should be celebrated." However, while toad patrols are able to slow the decline, they cannot prevent it entirely – not least because traffic is just one danger.

Additional Threats

The global warming has meant longer periods of drought, which cause the poor environment for some of the animals that toads eat, such as invertebrates, while warmer ponds have led to an increase of blue-green algae, which can be harmful to toads. Warmer cold seasons also lead toads to wake up from their hibernation more frequently, disrupting the resource preservation crucial to their existence. Habitat destruction – especially the loss of large ponds – is an additional threat.

Researchers are "always a bit worried about overemphasizing practical benefits on biodiversity," but "It's important in just having these animals around." But toads do have an significant part in the food chain, eating almost any invertebrates or small animals they can swallow and in turn feeding a variety of birds and mammals, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing situations for toads – ie building water habitats, conserving woodland and installing amphibian passages – "benefits for a wide range of other species."

Cultural Significance

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