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It's Friday evening at half past seven, but rather than heading to the pub or relaxing at home, I've taken a train to a town in the countryside to join volunteers from a toad patrol. These committed people sacrifice their nights to protect the local toad population.

An Alarming Decline in Population

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. Seeing a creature that has been a fixture of the UK landscape in decline is labeled "worrying" by researchers. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "ought to live successfully in the majority of habitats in the UK," so if even they are not managing to survive, "it indicates that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

The UK toad population has almost halved since 1985

The Danger from Traffic

Though the study didn't examine the causes for the drop, traffic is a major factor. Calculations suggest that 20 tons of toads are crushed on British roads every year – that is, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which might be content to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads prefer large ponds. Their ability to remain away from water for longer than frogs means they can journey farther to find them – often long distances. They tend to follow their ancestral migration routes – it's typical for mature amphibians to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Migration Habits

Fittingly, the first toads begin their quest for a partner around February 14th, but some move as far as spring, until it gets night and travelling after sunset. During that time, toads start moving from wherever they have been hibernating "all pretty much at the same time."

A local helper, who grew up in the region and has been working to save its toad population since he was a boy, notes that "They've got just one focus: to go and have an orgy." If their path crosses a street, they could be killed by traffic, and that mating period would never happen – preventing a next generation of toads from being born.

Rescue Groups Across the UK

Seeing many of toad carcasses on nearby streets "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has led to the formation of toad patrols throughout the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a countrywide program. These teams collect toads and carry them across roads in buckets, as well as counting 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 implies they can miss groups of young toads, which, having existed as eggs and then juveniles, leave their ponds over an unpredictable schedule in late summer. Because of their small stature – just one or two centimetres wide – "they can get obliterated by vehicles." And as being run over "essentially crushes them," it's more difficult to collect information on them. At least when mature amphibians are lost, their carcasses can be tallied.

Year-Round Work

Unlike many groups, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of functioning, go out year-round – not every night, but whenever weather are damp, or if someone has reported about a toad sighting in their group chat. When I request to accompany them on duty, they admit it is "not ideal conditions" – winter dormancy has begun and it's been a arid period – but several of the helpers gamely agree to patrol their area with me and see what we can find. "If anyone can find any toads tonight, that pair will spot one," says the group coordinator, pointing to her teenage child and the experienced member. After for two hours without a single toad sighting, and now they have climbed over a barbed wire fence to check under some logs.

Community Participation

The family duo joined the group a while back. The teenager adores all things wildlife and has an goal to become a conservationist, so his parent started to look for things they could do jointly to help local wildlife. Now she loves it as much as he does, the middle-aged entrepreneur tells me – so when the team was looking for a fresh coordinator recently, she volunteered for the role.

The teenager, too, has been instrumental in the group. A video he created, urging the local council to close a road through a protected area during migration season, influenced the outcome the group's way. After a twelve months of campaigning, the council approved an "access-only" rule between evening and morning from late winter through to April. Most drivers duly avoided the route.

Other Wildlife and Difficulties

Several vehicles go by when I'm out on duty and we discover some casualties as a result – no amphibians, but several crushed salamanders. We see one living newt as well, and the teenager is especially excited to see a daddy longlegs, which moves in his hands. Yet in spite of the group's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the native community has obviously settled down for the winter. It appears that I wouldn't have had any more luck anywhere else 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 another volunteer, who has generously made the effort to check for toads in a famous site, thought to be the biggest tracked toad group in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the title: "No toads." However, in February and March, he informs me, the team expects to help approximately ten thousand adult toads over the street.

Effectiveness and Limitations

What level of impact can these groups truly achieve? "The fact that people are performing this consistently on chilly, wet and miserable evenings is quite extraordinary," says an researcher. "That's something that very much deserves recognition." However, while toad patrols are able to slow the decline, they cannot prevent it entirely – partly since vehicles is not the only threat.

Other Dangers

The global warming has meant extended spells of drought, which cause the poor environment for some of the animals that toads consume, such as worms and slugs, while warmer ponds have led to an rise of blue-green algae, which can be toxic to toads. Milder winters also lead toads to wake up from their dormancy more frequently, interfering with the resource preservation vital to their life cycle. Loss of environment – particularly the loss of big water bodies – is an additional threat.

Experts are "always a bit worried about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," however "It's important in just having these animals around." But toads play an significant part in the food chain, consuming almost any small creatures or small animals they can swallow and in turn feeding a number of birds and mammals, such as wildlife. Improving situations for toads – ie building water habitats, protecting forests and installing toad tunnels – "we'll improve them for a wide range of other species."

Cultural Importance

An additional motive to work to preserve toads around is their "historical significance," notes an specialist. Myths and folklore around toads date back {centuries|hundred