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It's Friday night at half past seven, but instead of heading to the pub or watching a film, 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 safeguard the local toad population.

A Worrying Decline in Population

The Bufo bufo is growing more uncommon. A recent research led by an amphibian and reptile charity revealed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since 1985. Observing a creature that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decline is labeled "worrying" by experts. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "should be able to live successfully in the majority of habitats in Britain," so if even they are struggling to persist, "it kind of suggests that things are not as they should be."

The UK toad population has almost halved since 1985

The Threat from Traffic

Though the research didn't cover the reasons for the drop, traffic is a major factor. Estimates suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on UK roads annually – in other words, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which would probably be happy to mate "with just a small container," toads prefer big bodies of water. Their capacity to remain away from water for longer than frogs means they can journey farther to reach them – sometimes hundreds of metres. They tend to follow their ancestral migration routes – it's common for adult toads to go back to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Fittingly, the initial amphibians begin their quest for a partner around Valentine's day, but some move as far as spring, until it gets night and travelling after sunset. During that period, toads start moving from wherever they have been hibernating "almost simultaneously."

A local helper, who grew up in the region and has been working to save its toad population since he was a child, explains that "They've got just one focus: to go and mate." If their route crosses a street, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would be lost – preventing a next generation of toads from being born.

Rescue Groups Across the UK

Finding hundreds of dead toads on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the creation of toad patrols across the UK – hundreds of organizations are currently registered with a countrywide program. These groups collect toads and transport them over streets in buckets, as well as recording the number of toads they encounter and lobbying for other safety solutions, such as blocked roads and underground wildlife tunnels.

Volunteers usually work during the breeding period, when toad crossings are more regular. However, this implies they can miss numbers of toadlets, which, having existed as eggs and then tadpoles, exit their water habitats 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 hit "basically turns them into mush," 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 many groups, one local team, who are in their eighth season of functioning, go out throughout the year – not nightly, but when weather are damp, or if someone has posted about a toad sighting in their group chat. 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 helpers gamely agree to patrol their area with me and search for any toads. "Should anyone can find any toads tonight, that pair will spot one," says the group coordinator, pointing to her 14-year-old son and the experienced member. We've been out for two hours without a single toad sighting, and now they have scaled a wire barrier to check under some wood.

Community Involvement

The mother and son joined the patrol a while back. The teenager loves all things nature-related and has an goal to become a conservationist, so his mother started to look for things they could do jointly 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 group was looking for a fresh coordinator lately, she volunteered for the role.

The youth, too, has played an important role in the group. A clip he made, urging the municipal authority to close a road through a nature reserve during breeding time, influenced the outcome the team's way. After a twelve months of campaigning, the authority agreed to an "restricted access" rule between 5pm and 5am from February through to April. Most drivers duly avoided the route.

Additional Species and Difficulties

A few cars go past when I'm out on patrol and we discover some casualties as a consequence – no toads, but three squashed newts. We spot one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is especially excited to see a daddy longlegs, which moves in his palms. Yet despite the team's hardest attempts to show me a toad, the native community has obviously gone dormant for the colder months. It seems that I couldn't have found any more luck elsewhere in the country – all the patrol groups I contact clarify that it's near-impossible at this time of year.

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

A message I receive from another volunteer, who has generously made the effort to look for toads in a famous site, thought to be the biggest tracked toad group in the UK, reaches me with the subject line: "None found." However, in February and March, he tells me, the group plans to assist around 10,000 mature amphibians over the street.

Effectiveness and Limitations

How much of a difference can these groups 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 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 dry weather, which create the poor environment for some of the animals that toads consume, such as worms and slugs, while warmer ponds have caused an increase of toxic plants, which can be harmful to toads. Milder winters also cause toads to wake up from their dormancy more often, disrupting the resource preservation crucial to their existence. Loss of environment – especially the loss of large ponds – is an additional threat.

Experts are "always a bit worried about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on wildlife," but "There is a big value in just having these animals around." But toads play an significant part in the ecosystem, eating pretty much any invertebrates or small animals they can swallow and in turn sustaining a variety of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving situations for toads – such as building water habitats, protecting forests and constructing amphibian passages – "benefits for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Cultural Significance

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