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It is Friday evening at 7:30, but instead of going out or watching a film, I've taken a train to a town in Wiltshire to join volunteers from a toad patrol. These committed people sacrifice their nights to safeguard the local toad population.

A Worrying Decline in Numbers

The Bufo bufo is becoming increasingly uncommon. A latest study conducted by an amphibian and reptile charity showed that the UK toad population have almost halved since the mid-1980s. Seeing a species that has been a stalwart of the British countryside in decrease is described as "concerning" by experts. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "should be able to live quite well in most of areas in Britain," so if even they are not managing to survive, "it kind of suggests that things are not as they should be."

Toad populations across the UK have declined by almost 50% since the 1980s

The Threat from Roads

Though the study didn't examine the reasons for the drop, cars is a major factor. Estimates suggest that 20 tons of toads are crushed on UK roads every year – in other words, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which might be content to mate "with just a bucket of water," toads prefer large ponds. Their capacity to stay out of water for more time than frogs allows they can travel further to find them – sometimes long distances. They usually stick to their traditional paths – it's typical for adult toads to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Migration Patterns

Appropriately enough, the initial amphibians begin their quest for a mate around Valentine's day, but some move as late as spring, waiting until it gets dark and moving through the night. During that time, toads begin migrating from where they have been hibernating "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who grew up in the region and has been trying to protect its toad population since he was a child, notes that "Their sole purpose: to go and have an orgy." If their route happens to a street, they could all get run over, and that mating period would never happen – preventing a next generation of toads from being born.

Rescue Groups Across the UK

Finding many of toad carcasses on local roads "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has led to the creation of rescue teams throughout the UK – 274 groups are officially listed with a national initiative. These teams collect toads and transport them over streets in containers, as well as counting the number of toads they encounter and lobbying for other protection measures, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Volunteers tend to operate during the breeding period, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this implies they can miss groups of toadlets, which, having existed as spawn and then tadpoles, leave their ponds over an irregular timetable in late summer. Because of their size – just one or two centimetres wide – "they are destroyed by vehicles." And as being hit "basically turns them into mush," it's more difficult to collect information on them. At least when mature amphibians are lost, their remains can be counted.

Annual Efforts

In contrast to most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of operating, go out year-round – not every night, but when weather are warm and wet, or if a member has reported about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on patrol, they concede it is "not ideal conditions" – winter dormancy has started and it's been a arid period – but a few of the volunteers willingly accept to walk up and down their area with me and see what we can find. "Should anyone can find any toads tonight, that pair will find one," says the group coordinator, indicating her 14-year-old son and the longtime volunteer. We've been out for two hours without a single toad sighting, and now they have scaled a barbed wire fence to inspect beneath some wood.

Family Involvement

The mother and son became part of the group a while back. The youngster adores all things nature-related and has an goal to become a environmentalist, so his mother started to search for activities they could do jointly 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 decided to step up.

The youth, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A clip he created, urging the local council to close a street through a nature reserve during breeding time, influenced the outcome the group's way. After a year of lobbying, the authority approved an "access-only" restriction between 5pm and 5am from February through to spring. The majority of motorists respected and avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Challenges

Several cars go by when I'm out on duty and we find some casualties as a result – no amphibians, but three squashed newts. We see one living newt as well, and the youngster is especially excited to see a harvestman, which moves in his hands. Yet despite the team's best efforts to show me a toad, the local population has clearly gone dormant for the colder months. It appears that I wouldn't have had any more luck elsewhere in the nation – all the rescue teams I contact clarify that it's near-impossible at this time of year.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

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, reaches me with the title: "None found." However, in late winter, he informs me, the team expects to help around 10,000 adult toads across the road.

Impact and Limitations

What level of impact can these groups truly achieve? "The fact that volunteers are doing this consistently on cold, damp and unpleasant evenings is quite extraordinary," says an researcher. "This effort that very much should be celebrated." However, while rescue teams are able to reduce the drop, they can't stop it completely – partly since traffic is not the only threat.

Additional Threats

The global warming has meant longer periods of dry weather, which cause the wrong conditions for some of the animals that toads eat, such as invertebrates, while higher water temperatures have led to an rise of toxic plants, which can be toxic to toads. Warmer cold seasons also lead toads to emerge from their dormancy more frequently, interfering with the resource preservation vital to their life cycle. Habitat destruction – particularly the disappearance 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 do have an important role in the ecosystem, consuming almost any small creatures or small animals they can swallow and in turn sustaining a variety of birds and mammals, such as wildlife. Enhancing situations for toads – such as creating more ponds, conserving woodland and constructing toad tunnels – "benefits for a whole bunch of other species."

Historical Significance

Another reason to work to preserve toads present is their "important cultural value," notes an specialist. Myths and folklore around toads date back {centuries|hundred