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It's a Friday evening at half past seven, but rather than heading to the pub or relaxing at home, I've caught a train to a town in Wiltshire to join volunteers from a amphibian rescue group. These dedicated individuals sacrifice their evenings to safeguard the native amphibian community.

A Worrying Decline in Population

The Bufo bufo is growing more uncommon. A recent research 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 stalwart of the British countryside in decrease is described as "worrying" by experts. 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 not managing to survive, "it kind of suggests that things are not as they should be."

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

The Danger from Roads

Though the research didn't examine the causes for the decline, traffic certainly plays a part. Estimates suggest that 20 tons of toads are killed on British roads annually – that is, hundreds of thousands. In contrast to frogs, which might be happy to mate "with just a bucket of water," toads favor large ponds. Their capacity to stay out of water for longer than frogs means they can journey farther to find them – often hundreds of metres. They usually follow their traditional paths – it's common for adult toads to return to their birth pond to mate.

Migration Patterns

Appropriately enough, the first toads begin their quest for a partner around Valentine's day, but others travel as late as April, waiting until it gets dark and travelling through the night. During that period, toads begin migrating from wherever they have been hibernating "all pretty much at the same time."

A local helper, who was raised in the region and has been trying to protect its toad population since he was a child, explains that "They've got just one focus: to go and have an orgy." If their path happens to a street, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would never happen – stopping a next generation of toads from being born.

Toad Patrols Across the United Kingdom

Seeing many of toad carcasses on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has resulted in the formation of toad patrols across the UK – 274 groups are currently registered with a national initiative. These groups pick up toads and carry them across roads in buckets, as well as recording the quantity of toads they encounter and lobbying for other protection measures, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Volunteers usually work during the breeding period, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this implies they can miss numbers of young toads, which, having existed as spawn and then tadpoles, exit their ponds over an unpredictable schedule in the end of summer. Because of their size – just one or two centimetres 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 carcasses can be tallied.

Annual Efforts

In contrast to most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth year of operating, go out year-round – not every night, but whenever weather are warm and wet, or if a member has posted about a amphibian spotting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on patrol, they concede it is "not ideal conditions" – winter dormancy has started and it's been a dry day – but a few of the volunteers gamely agree to walk up and down their route 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 14-year-old son 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 inspect beneath some logs.

Family Involvement

The family duo became part of the patrol a while back. The teenager adores all things wildlife and has an ambition to become a conservationist, so his mother started to search for activities they could do together to help native animals. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the 41-year-old small business owner tells me – so when the team was looking for a fresh coordinator recently, she decided to step up.

The teenager, too, has played an important role in the organization. A video he made, urging the local council to block a road through a protected area during migration season, influenced the outcome the group's way. After a twelve months of lobbying, the authority approved an "restricted access" restriction between 5pm and 5am from February through to spring. Most drivers respected and avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Challenges

A few vehicles go past when I'm out on patrol and we find some casualties as a consequence – no amphibians, but several crushed salamanders. We see one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is especially excited to see a harvestman, which moves in his palms. Yet despite the group's best efforts to show me a toad, the local population has clearly gone dormant for the colder months. It appears that I couldn't have found any more luck elsewhere in the country – all the patrol groups I reach out to clarify 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 a different helper, who has generously taken the trouble to look for toads in a noted location, considered the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, reaches me with the subject line: "No toads." However, in late winter, he tells me, the group plans to assist around 10,000 mature amphibians over the street.

Impact and Challenges

How much of a difference can these organizations truly achieve? "The fact that volunteers are doing this regularly on chilly, wet and miserable late nights is quite extraordinary," says an expert. "That's something that very much should be celebrated." However, while rescue teams are able to reduce the drop, they cannot prevent it entirely – not least because vehicles is just one danger.

Other Dangers

The climate crisis has resulted in extended spells of dry weather, which cause the wrong conditions for some of the creatures that toads consume, such as worms and slugs, while higher water temperatures have caused an increase of toxic plants, which can be toxic to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to wake up from their hibernation more frequently, disrupting the resource preservation crucial to their life cycle. Habitat destruction – especially the disappearance of big water bodies – is an additional threat.

Researchers are "always a bit worried about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on wildlife," however "There is a big value in just having these animals around." But toads do have an important role in the ecosystem, consuming almost any invertebrates or tiny organisms they can fit in their mouths and in turn sustaining a number of birds and mammals, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving conditions for toads – ie creating more ponds, protecting forests and constructing toad tunnels – "benefits for a whole bunch of other species."

Historical Significance

Another reason to try to keep toads present is their "historical significance," adds an specialist. Myths and folklore around toads date back {centuries|hundred