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It's Friday evening at half past seven, but rather than going out or watching a film, I've taken a train to a town in Wiltshire to join volunteers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals give up their evenings to safeguard the local toad population.

A Worrying Drop in Population

The Bufo bufo is becoming increasingly uncommon. A latest study led by an wildlife conservation group showed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since 1985. Observing a species that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decrease is labeled "worrying" by researchers. Toads "don't require very particular environments" and "should be able to live quite well in the majority of habitats in Britain," so if even they are not managing to survive, "it indicates that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

Since 1985, Britain's toad numbers have nearly been cut in half

The Threat from Traffic

Though the research didn't examine the reasons for the drop, cars is a major factor. Calculations suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are killed 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 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 usually follow their ancestral migration routes – it's typical for adult toads to return to their birth pond to mate.

Migration Patterns

Appropriately enough, the first toads begin their quest for a mate around February 14th, but others travel as far as April, until it gets night and moving after sunset. During that period, toads start moving from where they have been hibernating "almost simultaneously."

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 "Their sole purpose: to go and have an orgy." If their path crosses a road, they could all get run over, and that mating period would never happen – preventing a new generation of toads from being produced.

Toad Patrols Across the United Kingdom

Finding many of dead toads on nearby streets "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has resulted in the formation of toad patrols across the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a national initiative. These groups pick up toads and carry 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 amphibian passages.

Volunteers usually work during the migration season, when amphibian movements are frequent. However, this means they can miss groups of toadlets, which, having been spawn and then juveniles, exit their ponds over an unpredictable schedule in the end of summer. Because of their size – just a couple of cm wide – "they are destroyed by vehicles." And as being hit "essentially crushes them," it's harder to get data on them. At least when adult toads are killed, their carcasses can be counted.

Annual Efforts

Unlike many groups, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth year of functioning, go out year-round – not every night, but whenever conditions are warm and wet, or if a member has reported 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 begun and it's been a arid period – 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, pointing to her teenage child and the longtime volunteer. We've been out for two hours without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have scaled a barbed wire fence to check under some wood.

Family Involvement

The mother and son became part of the group a while back. The teenager adores all things wildlife and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his mother started to look for things 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 group was seeking a new manager recently, she volunteered for the role.

The youth, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A video he created, urging the local council to close a street through a protected area during breeding time, swung the decision the team's way. After a year of lobbying, the council agreed to an "restricted access" rule between evening and morning from February through to spring. The majority of motorists respected and avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Difficulties

Several vehicles go past when I'm out on patrol and we discover some casualties as a result – no amphibians, but three squashed newts. We spot one live amphibian as well, and the youngster is particularly pleased to see a harvestman, which dances in his palms. Yet in spite of the team's best efforts to show me a toad, the native community has clearly gone dormant for the winter. It appears that I couldn't have found any more luck elsewhere in the country – all the rescue teams I reach out to clarify that it's very difficult at this time of year.

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

One email I receive from another volunteer, who has generously taken the trouble to check for toads in a noted location, thought to be the biggest tracked toad group in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the subject line: "None found." However, in late winter, he tells me, the team expects to help approximately 10,000 adult toads across the road.

Effectiveness and Limitations

How much of a difference can these groups truly achieve? "The fact that volunteers are performing this regularly on chilly, wet and miserable evenings is remarkable," notes an researcher. "This effort that very much should be celebrated." However, while rescue teams are able to slow the decline, they can't stop it completely – partly since traffic is just one danger.

Additional Threats

The climate crisis has resulted in longer periods of dry weather, which create the poor environment for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as invertebrates, while higher water temperatures have led to an rise of blue-green algae, which can be harmful to toads. Milder winters also lead toads to emerge from their dormancy more frequently, interfering with the energy conservation vital to their life cycle. Loss of environment – particularly the loss of large ponds – 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 their presence." But toads play an important role in the food chain, consuming pretty much any invertebrates or tiny organisms they can fit in their mouths and in turn sustaining a variety of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing situations for toads – ie creating more ponds, conserving woodland and constructing toad tunnels – "benefits for a wide range of other species."

Cultural Significance

Another reason to work to preserve toads around is their "historical significance," notes an expert. Myths and folklore around toads go back {centuries|hundred