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It's Friday evening at 7:30, but rather than heading to the pub or watching a film, I've caught a train to a market town in the countryside to join local helpers from a amphibian rescue group. These committed people give up their evenings to safeguard the local toad population.

An Alarming Drop in Population

The common toad is becoming increasingly rare. A recent research led 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 decline is described as "worrying" by experts. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "should be able to live successfully in most of habitats in Britain," meaning if even they are struggling to persist, "it indicates that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

The UK toad population has almost halved since 1985

The Threat from Roads

Though the research didn't cover the causes for the drop, traffic certainly plays a part. Estimates indicate that 20 tonnes of toads are crushed on UK roads annually – that is, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which might be happy to mate "with just a bucket of water," toads prefer large ponds. Their ability to remain away from water for longer than frogs allows they can journey farther to find them – sometimes hundreds of metres. They usually follow their traditional paths – it's typical for mature amphibians to return to their natal pond to mate.

Breeding Patterns

Fittingly, the first toads start their journey for a mate around Valentine's day, but others travel as far as April, until it gets dark and moving after sunset. During that time, toads start moving from wherever they have been hibernating "almost simultaneously."

A local helper, who was raised in the region and has been working to save its amphibians since he was a boy, notes that "They've got just one focus: to go and have an orgy." If their route crosses a street, they could be killed by traffic, and that mating period would be lost – stopping a next generation of toads from being produced.

Rescue Groups Across the United Kingdom

Finding many of dead toads on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the creation of toad patrols throughout the UK – 274 groups are currently registered with a national initiative. These teams pick up toads and transport them over streets in buckets, as well as recording the number of toads they encounter and lobbying for other protection measures, such as blocked roads and underground wildlife tunnels.

Patrols usually work during the breeding period, when amphibian movements are more regular. However, this implies they can overlook numbers of young toads, which, having been spawn and then tadpoles, leave their ponds over an unpredictable schedule in the end of summer. Because of their small stature – just a couple of cm wide – "they are destroyed by vehicles." And as being hit "basically turns them into mush," it's more difficult to get data on them. At least when adult toads are killed, their carcasses can be counted.

Annual Work

Unlike most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth year of functioning, go out year-round – not every night, but whenever weather are warm and wet, or if someone has posted about a toad sighting in their group chat. When I ask to join them on patrol, they admit it is "not a toady night" – 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, those two will find one," says the patrol manager, indicating 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 wire barrier to check under some logs.

Family Involvement

The family duo became part of the group a year and a half ago. The teenager loves 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 loves it as much as he does, the middle-aged entrepreneur tells me – so when the team was looking for a new manager recently, she volunteered for the role.

The teenager, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A video he created, imploring the municipal authority to close a street through a nature reserve during breeding time, influenced the outcome the team's way. After a twelve months of campaigning, the authority approved an "restricted access" rule between evening and morning from late winter through to spring. The majority of motorists respected and avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Challenges

Several cars go past when I'm out on patrol and we find some casualties as a result – no amphibians, but three squashed newts. We spot one living newt as well, and the youngster is particularly pleased to see a harvestman, which dances in his hands. Yet despite the team's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the local population has clearly settled down for the winter. It appears that I wouldn't have had any better success anywhere else in the country – all the rescue teams I reach out to explain that it's very difficult at this time of year.

This team anticipates assisting around ten thousand mature toads over the street

One email I get from a different helper, who has kindly made the effort to look for toads in a famous site, thought to be the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, reaches me with the title: "No toads." However, in February and March, he tells me, the group plans to assist approximately ten thousand adult toads over the street.

Effectiveness and Limitations

What level of impact can these groups actually make? "The reality that people are performing this consistently on chilly, wet and miserable evenings is quite extraordinary," notes an expert. "That's something that very much deserves recognition." However, while rescue teams are able to reduce the drop, they cannot prevent it entirely – partly since traffic is not the only threat.

Additional Threats

The climate crisis has resulted in longer periods 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 led to an rise of blue-green algae, which can be harmful to toads. Warmer cold seasons also lead toads to wake up from their hibernation more often, disrupting the energy conservation crucial to their life cycle. Loss of environment – particularly the loss of big water bodies – is another menace.

Experts are "often concerned about overemphasizing practical benefits on wildlife," but "There is a big value in just having these animals around." But toads play an important role in the food chain, consuming almost any invertebrates or small animals they can swallow and in turn sustaining a number of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing situations for toads – ie creating more ponds, protecting forests and installing toad tunnels – "we'll improve them for a whole bunch of other species."

Cultural Significance

An additional motive to try to keep toads present is their "historical significance," notes an specialist. Legends and tales around toads go back {centuries|hundred