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It is Friday evening at half past seven, but instead of heading to the pub or relaxing at home, I've caught a train to a market town in Wiltshire to meet up with local helpers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals sacrifice their evenings to protect the local toad population.

A Worrying Drop in Numbers

The common toad is growing more uncommon. A latest study conducted by an amphibian and reptile charity showed that the British common toad numbers have almost halved since the mid-1980s. Seeing a creature that has been a stalwart of the British countryside in decrease is described as "concerning" by researchers. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "should be able to live successfully in the majority of habitats in the UK," meaning if even they are struggling to persist, "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 research didn't cover the reasons for the drop, cars is a major factor. Estimates suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on British roads every year – that is, hundreds of thousands. In contrast to frogs, which would probably be happy to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads favor big bodies of water. Their capacity to remain away from water for more time than frogs allows they can travel further to find them – sometimes hundreds of metres. They usually follow their traditional paths – it's typical for mature amphibians to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Fittingly, the first toads begin their quest for a partner around February 14th, but others travel as far as April, waiting until it gets dark and moving through the night. During that period, toads begin migrating from wherever they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."

A local helper, who grew up in the area 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 happens to a road, they could all get run over, and that breeding season would be lost – preventing a new generation of toads from being produced.

Rescue Groups Throughout the United Kingdom

Seeing hundreds of toad carcasses on local roads "inherently strikes a chord 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 pick up toads and carry them over streets in containers, as well as recording the quantity of toads they encounter and advocating for other protection measures, such as road closures and amphibian passages.

Patrols tend to operate during the breeding period, when toad crossings are more regular. However, this means they can miss groups of toadlets, which, having been eggs and then tadpoles, exit their ponds over an irregular timetable 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 "basically turns them into mush," it's more difficult to collect information on them. At least when mature amphibians are lost, their remains can be counted.

Year-Round Work

Unlike most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth year of functioning, go out year-round – not nightly, but whenever conditions are damp, or if a member has posted about a amphibian spotting in their group chat. When I ask to join them on patrol, they admit it is "not a toady night" – toad hibernation season has begun and it's been a dry day – but a few of the helpers willingly accept to walk up and down their area with me and see what we can find. "Should anyone can find any toads tonight, that pair will find one," says the group coordinator, indicating 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 inspect beneath some wood.

Community Participation

The family duo joined the group a year and a half ago. The teenager loves all things wildlife and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his parent started to search for activities they could do jointly to protect local wildlife. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the 41-year-old entrepreneur explains – so when the group was seeking a new manager recently, she decided to step up.

The youth, too, has played an important role in the organization. A video he created, imploring the municipal authority to close a road through a protected area during breeding time, influenced the outcome the team's way. After a year of lobbying, the council agreed to an "restricted access" restriction between 5pm and 5am from late winter through to spring. Most drivers duly avoided the route.

Additional Species and Difficulties

A few vehicles go past when I'm out on patrol and we discover some victims as a result – no toads, but three squashed newts. We spot one living newt as well, and the youngster is especially excited to see a harvestman, which moves in his hands. Yet despite the team's best efforts to let me see a toad, the native community has obviously gone dormant for the winter. It appears that I wouldn't have had any more luck anywhere else in the nation – all the rescue teams I reach out to clarify that it's near-impossible at this time of year.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

One email I get from a different helper, who has kindly taken the trouble to check for toads in a noted location, thought to be the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, reaches me with the subject line: "No toads." However, in late winter, he informs me, the group expects to help around ten thousand mature amphibians across the road.

Impact and Challenges

What level of impact can these groups truly achieve? "The reality that people are performing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant evenings is remarkable," says an researcher. "That's something that very much deserves recognition." However, while toad patrols are able to reduce the drop, they cannot prevent it entirely – not least because vehicles is just one danger.

Additional Threats

The climate crisis has meant extended spells of drought, which create the wrong conditions for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as invertebrates, while higher water temperatures have caused an increase of toxic plants, which can be harmful to toads. Milder winters also lead toads to wake up from their dormancy more frequently, interfering with the energy conservation crucial to their life cycle. Loss of environment – especially 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, eating almost any invertebrates or tiny organisms they can swallow and in turn feeding a number of birds and mammals, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving situations for toads – such as creating more ponds, protecting forests and constructing toad tunnels – "benefits for a wide range of other species."

Historical Significance

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