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It's a Friday night at half past seven, but rather than going out or watching a film, I've taken a train to a town in Wiltshire to join local helpers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals sacrifice their nights to protect the local toad population.

A Worrying Drop in Population

The common toad is growing more rare. A recent study conducted by an wildlife conservation group revealed that the UK toad population have almost halved since 1985. Observing a species that has been a fixture of the UK landscape in decrease is labeled "worrying" by experts. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "should be able to live quite well in most of habitats in the UK," so 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 Danger from Traffic

Though the study didn't examine the reasons for the drop, cars is a major factor. Calculations indicate that 20 tons of toads are crushed on UK roads annually – that is, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which would probably be content to mate "if you left out a small container," toads prefer large ponds. Their capacity to stay out of water for more time than frogs allows they can journey farther to reach them – often long distances. They usually stick to their ancestral migration routes – it's common for mature amphibians to go back to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Fittingly, the initial amphibians start their journey for a mate around February 14th, but some move as late as April, waiting until it gets dark and travelling after sunset. During that time, toads start moving from where they have been overwintering "all pretty much at the same time."

A local helper, who was raised in the area and has been trying to protect its amphibians since he was a child, notes that "They've got just one focus: to go and mate." If their route crosses a street, they could all get run over, and that breeding season would be lost – preventing a next generation of toads from being produced.

Toad Patrols Throughout the UK

Seeing hundreds of toad carcasses on nearby streets "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has resulted in the formation of toad patrols throughout the UK – hundreds of organizations are currently registered with a national initiative. These teams pick up toads and carry 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 amphibian passages.

Volunteers tend to operate during the breeding period, when toad crossings are more regular. However, this means they can miss numbers of young toads, which, having been spawn and then juveniles, exit their ponds over an irregular timetable in the end of summer. Because of their small stature – just one or two centimetres wide – "they are destroyed by vehicles." And as being hit "essentially crushes them," it's harder to get data on them. At least when adult toads are lost, their remains can be counted.

Annual Efforts

In contrast to most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth year of functioning, go out throughout the year – not nightly, but whenever conditions are damp, or if someone has posted about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I request to accompany them on patrol, they concede it is "not a toady night" – toad hibernation season has started and it's been a dry day – but several of the volunteers gamely agree to walk up and down their area with me and see what we can find. "If anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the patrol manager, pointing to her teenage child and the longtime volunteer. We've been out for 120 minutes without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have climbed over a barbed wire fence to check under some logs.

Community Participation

The family duo joined the patrol a while back. The teenager adores all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a conservationist, so his parent started to look for things they could do jointly to help native animals. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the middle-aged entrepreneur explains – so when the team was looking for a new manager lately, she decided to step up.

The teenager, too, has been instrumental in the group. A video he made, imploring the local council to block a street through a protected area during migration season, influenced the outcome the team's way. After a year of lobbying, the authority agreed to an "access-only" rule between 5pm and 5am from February through to April. Most drivers duly avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Difficulties

Several cars go by when I'm out on duty 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 especially excited to see a daddy longlegs, which dances in his hands. Yet despite the team's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the native community has obviously gone dormant for the winter. It seems that I couldn't have found any better success elsewhere in the country – all the rescue teams I reach out to clarify that it's very difficult at this season.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

One email I get from a different helper, who has generously taken the trouble to check for toads in a famous site, considered the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the subject line: "No toads." However, in February and March, he tells me, the team expects to help approximately 10,000 mature amphibians across the road.

Effectiveness and Limitations

What level of impact can these organizations truly achieve? "The reality that people are doing this consistently on cold, damp and unpleasant evenings is remarkable," notes an researcher. "That's something that very much deserves recognition." However, while rescue teams are able to reduce the drop, they can't stop it completely – not least because traffic is not the only threat.

Other Dangers

The global warming has resulted in longer periods of drought, which create the poor environment for some of the animals that toads consume, such as invertebrates, while higher water temperatures have led to an increase of toxic plants, which can be toxic to toads. Milder winters also cause toads to wake up from their dormancy more frequently, interfering with the resource preservation crucial to their existence. Habitat destruction – especially the disappearance of large ponds – is another menace.

Experts are "often concerned about overemphasizing practical benefits on biodiversity," but "It's important in just their presence." But toads do have an significant part in the food chain, consuming almost any invertebrates or small animals they can swallow and in turn feeding a number of predators, such as wildlife. Enhancing conditions for toads – such as building water habitats, protecting forests and installing amphibian passages – "we'll improve them for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Cultural Significance

Another reason to work to preserve toads present is their "historical significance," notes an expert. Legends and tales around toads go back {centuries|hundred