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It is Friday evening at 7:30, but instead of heading to the pub or watching a film, I've taken a train to a town in Wiltshire to join volunteers from a amphibian rescue group. These committed people give up their nights to protect the local toad population.

A Worrying Drop in Population

The common toad is becoming increasingly uncommon. A recent study conducted by an wildlife conservation group revealed that the UK toad population have almost halved since the mid-1980s. Observing a species that has been a stalwart of the UK landscape in decrease is labeled "concerning" by researchers. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "ought to live quite well in most of habitats in Britain," so if even they are struggling to persist, "it indicates that things are not as they should be."

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

The Threat from Traffic

Though the research didn't cover the causes for the drop, cars certainly plays a part. Calculations suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on British roads annually – that is, hundreds of thousands. In contrast to frogs, which would probably be content to mate "if you left out a small container," toads favor large ponds. Their ability to remain away from water for longer than frogs means they can travel further to reach them – often long distances. They tend to follow their traditional paths – it's common for mature amphibians to go back to their birth pond to mate.

Migration Patterns

Fittingly, the initial amphibians begin their quest for a mate around February 14th, but others travel as far as spring, until it gets night and moving through the night. During that time, toads begin migrating from wherever they have been hibernating "almost simultaneously."

A local helper, who grew up in the region and has been trying to protect its toad population since he was a child, 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 be lost – preventing a new generation of toads from being born.

Rescue Groups Throughout the UK

Finding many of toad carcasses on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the formation of rescue teams across the UK – hundreds of organizations are currently registered with a national initiative. These groups pick up toads and transport them over streets in buckets, as well as recording the number of toads they encounter and advocating for other safety solutions, such as road closures and underground wildlife tunnels.

Volunteers tend to operate during the migration season, when toad crossings are more regular. However, this means they can overlook groups of toadlets, which, having existed as spawn and then juveniles, 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 car traffic." And as being run over "basically turns them into mush," it's more difficult to collect information on them. At least when mature amphibians are lost, their carcasses can be counted.

Annual Efforts

In contrast to many groups, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth year of operating, go out throughout the year – not nightly, but when conditions are damp, or if a member has reported about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I request to accompany them on patrol, they admit it is "not a toady night" – winter dormancy has started and it's been a dry day – but a few of the helpers willingly accept to walk up and down their area with me and search for any toads. "If anyone can find any toads tonight, those two will spot one," says the group coordinator, indicating her teenage child and the experienced member. After for 120 minutes without a single toad sighting, and now they have climbed over a barbed wire fence to inspect beneath some wood.

Community Involvement

The mother and son joined the patrol a while back. The youngster loves all things wildlife and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his parent 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 entrepreneur tells me – so when the team was seeking a new manager lately, she decided to step up.

The teenager, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A video he created, urging the municipal authority to block a street through a nature reserve during migration season, swung the decision the team's way. After a twelve months of lobbying, the council agreed to an "access-only" rule between 5pm and 5am from late winter through to spring. The majority of motorists duly avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Challenges

Several vehicles go by when I'm out on duty 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 particularly pleased to see a harvestman, which dances in his palms. 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 appears that I wouldn't have had any more luck elsewhere in the country – all the patrol groups I contact clarify that it's very difficult at this season.

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

A message I get from a different helper, who has generously taken the trouble to look for toads in a noted location, thought to be the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the subject line: "None found." However, in February and March, he informs me, the group plans to assist around 10,000 adult toads across the road.

Effectiveness and Limitations

How much of a difference can these organizations actually make? "The fact that volunteers are doing this consistently on chilly, wet and miserable late nights is remarkable," notes an researcher. "That's something that very much should be celebrated." However, while toad patrols are able to reduce the drop, they can't stop it completely – not least because traffic is just one danger.

Other Dangers

The global warming has meant extended spells of dry weather, which cause the wrong conditions for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as invertebrates, while warmer ponds have caused an rise of toxic plants, which can be toxic to toads. Milder winters also cause toads to emerge from their dormancy more often, interfering with the energy conservation crucial to their existence. Habitat destruction – particularly the loss of big water bodies – is an additional threat.

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, eating almost any small creatures or small animals they can fit in their mouths and in turn sustaining a number of birds and mammals, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving conditions for toads – ie creating more ponds, protecting forests and constructing amphibian passages – "we'll improve them for a wide range of additional wildlife."

Cultural Importance

Another reason to try to keep toads around is their "historical significance," adds an expert. Legends and tales around toads date back {centuries|hundred