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It is a Friday evening at half past seven, but instead of going out or watching a film, I've caught a train to a market town in the countryside to join volunteers from a amphibian rescue group. These dedicated individuals sacrifice their evenings to protect the local toad population.

A Worrying Drop in Numbers

The common toad is becoming increasingly uncommon. A recent research conducted by an amphibian and reptile charity showed that the British common toad numbers have almost halved since the mid-1980s. Observing a species that has been a fixture of the UK landscape in decrease is described as "worrying" by experts. Toads "don't require very particular environments" and "ought to live quite well in the majority of habitats in Britain," 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 Roads

Though the study didn't examine the reasons for the decline, 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 happy to mate "with just a small container," toads prefer big bodies of water. Their capacity to stay out of water for longer than frogs allows they can travel further to find them – often long distances. They tend to stick to their ancestral migration routes – it's typical for mature amphibians to return to their natal pond to mate.

Migration Patterns

Fittingly, the initial amphibians start their journey for a mate around February 14th, but some move as late as spring, waiting until it gets night and travelling after sunset. During that time, toads begin migrating from wherever they have been hibernating "all pretty much at the same time."

One volunteer, who was raised in the region and has been working to save its amphibians since he was a child, explains that "Their sole purpose: to go and mate." If their route happens to a road, they could all get run over, and that breeding season would be lost – preventing a new generation of toads from being born.

Rescue Groups Across the UK

Finding hundreds of dead toads on nearby streets "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has led to the formation of toad patrols throughout the UK – 274 groups are officially listed with a national initiative. These teams pick up toads and transport them across roads in containers, as well as counting the quantity of toads they find and lobbying for other protection measures, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Volunteers tend to operate during the breeding period, when amphibian movements are frequent. However, this implies they can overlook numbers of young toads, which, having been spawn and then tadpoles, exit their water habitats over an unpredictable schedule in the end of summer. Because of their size – just one or two centimetres wide – "they are destroyed by vehicles." And as being run over "essentially crushes them," it's more difficult to get data on them. At least when adult toads are killed, their carcasses can be counted.

Annual Work

In contrast to most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of operating, go out throughout the year – not nightly, but when weather are damp, or if someone has posted about a amphibian spotting in their group chat. When I ask to join them on duty, they admit it is "not ideal conditions" – toad hibernation season has started and it's been a dry day – but several of the helpers gamely agree to walk up and down their route with me and see what we can find. "If anyone can find any toads tonight, those two will spot 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 scaled a wire barrier to check under some wood.

Community Participation

The family duo joined the group a while back. The teenager loves all things wildlife and has an ambition to become a conservationist, so his parent started to look for activities they could do jointly to help local wildlife. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the middle-aged small business owner explains – so when the team was looking for a new manager recently, she decided to step up.

The teenager, too, has played an important role in the organization. A video he made, imploring the municipal authority to block a road through a nature reserve during migration season, influenced the outcome the group's way. After a year of campaigning, the council agreed to an "access-only" rule between evening and morning from February through to April. Most drivers respected and avoided the route.

Additional Species and Difficulties

Several vehicles go by when I'm out on patrol and we discover some victims as a consequence – no amphibians, but several crushed salamanders. We see one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is particularly pleased to see a daddy longlegs, which dances in his hands. Yet in spite of the group's hardest attempts to show me a toad, the local population has obviously gone dormant for the colder months. It seems that I couldn't have found any better success elsewhere in the country – all the rescue teams I contact clarify that it's near-impossible at this season.

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

A message I receive from another volunteer, who has kindly taken the trouble to check for toads in a famous site, thought to be the largest accurately monitored toad population in the UK, reaches me with the subject line: "No toads." However, in late winter, he informs me, the team expects to help around ten thousand adult toads over the street.

Effectiveness and Challenges

What level of impact can these organizations actually make? "The fact that volunteers are performing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant evenings is quite extraordinary," says an expert. "This effort that very much deserves recognition." However, while toad patrols are able to slow the decline, they can't stop it completely – not least because traffic is not the only threat.

Other Dangers

The global warming has meant longer periods of dry weather, which cause the wrong conditions for some of the creatures that toads eat, 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 often, interfering with the energy conservation crucial to their life cycle. Loss of environment – especially the loss of large ponds – is another menace.

Experts are "often concerned about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on wildlife," but "It's important in just their presence." But toads play 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 wildlife. Enhancing situations for toads – ie creating more ponds, conserving woodland and installing amphibian passages – "benefits for a wide range of additional wildlife."

Historical Importance

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