🔗 Share this article

It is Friday evening at half past seven, but rather than going out or watching a film, I've caught a train to a market town in Wiltshire to join volunteers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals sacrifice their evenings to safeguard the native amphibian community.

A Worrying Drop in Population

The common toad is growing more rare. A recent study conducted by an wildlife conservation group revealed that the UK toad population have almost halved since 1985. Observing a species that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decrease is labeled "concerning" by researchers. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "ought to live successfully in the majority of areas in the UK," meaning if even they are struggling to persist, "it indicates that things are not as they should be."

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

The Danger from Traffic

Though the study didn't examine the causes for the drop, cars is a major factor. Calculations indicate that 20 tonnes of toads are crushed on UK roads annually – in other words, several hundred thousand. In contrast to frogs, which would probably be happy to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads prefer big bodies of water. Their capacity to stay out of water for more time than frogs means they can journey farther to reach them – often hundreds of metres. They usually follow their traditional paths – it's common for mature amphibians to return to their natal pond to mate.

Migration Patterns

Fittingly, the initial amphibians start their journey for a partner around Valentine's day, but others travel as late as spring, waiting until it gets dark and travelling through the night. During that time, toads begin migrating from where they have been hibernating "almost simultaneously."

A local helper, who grew up in the area and has been trying to protect its toad population since he was a boy, explains that "Their sole purpose: to go and mate." If their path happens to a street, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would be lost – preventing a new generation of toads from being born.

Rescue Groups Throughout the UK

Seeing many of dead toads on local roads "resonates deeply with people," and has resulted in the formation of toad patrols throughout the UK – 274 groups are currently registered with a countrywide program. These groups collect toads and carry them over streets in buckets, as well as recording the quantity of toads they find and lobbying for other protection measures, such as road closures and amphibian passages.

Patrols tend to operate during the migration season, when amphibian movements are more regular. However, this implies they can miss groups of young toads, which, having been spawn and then tadpoles, leave their water habitats over an unpredictable schedule in late summer. Because of their size – just a couple of cm wide – "they are destroyed by car traffic." And as being hit "essentially crushes them," it's harder to collect information on them. At least when adult toads are killed, their carcasses can be tallied.

Annual Work

Unlike most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth year of operating, go out throughout the year – not every night, but whenever weather are damp, or if someone has posted about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I request to accompany them on duty, they admit it is "not a toady night" – toad hibernation season has started and it's been a dry day – but a few of the helpers willingly accept to patrol their area with me and search for any toads. "Should anyone can find any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the group coordinator, pointing to her 14-year-old son and the longtime volunteer. We've been out for 120 minutes without a single toad sighting, and now they have climbed over a barbed wire fence to inspect beneath some wood.

Family Participation

The mother and son joined the patrol a while back. The youngster adores all things nature-related and has an goal to become a environmentalist, so his parent started to search for activities they could do together to help native animals. Now she loves it as much as he does, the 41-year-old entrepreneur explains – so when the group was looking for a new manager lately, she decided to step up.

The youth, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A clip he created, urging the local council to block a street through a nature reserve during migration season, influenced the outcome the team's way. After a year of lobbying, the council approved an "restricted access" restriction between evening and morning from late winter through to spring. The majority of motorists duly avoided the road.

Additional Species and Difficulties

Several cars go by 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 teenager is especially excited to see a harvestman, which dances in his hands. Yet despite the team's hardest attempts 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 anywhere else in the nation – all the rescue teams I contact explain that it's near-impossible at this time of year.

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

One email I receive from a different helper, who has generously taken the trouble to look for toads in a famous site, thought to be the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the title: "No toads." However, in February and March, he tells me, the team expects to help approximately 10,000 mature amphibians across the road.

Impact and Limitations

How much of a difference can these organizations truly achieve? "The reality that people are performing this consistently on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is remarkable," says an expert. "That's something that very much should be celebrated." 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 global warming has resulted in longer periods of drought, 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 toxic plants, which can be harmful to toads. Milder winters also lead toads to wake up from their dormancy more often, disrupting the energy conservation vital to their existence. Loss of environment – particularly the loss of big water bodies – is an additional threat.

Researchers are "always a bit worried about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on wildlife," however "It's important in just their presence." But toads do have an important role in the food chain, consuming almost any small creatures or small animals they can fit in their mouths and in turn sustaining a number of predators, such as wildlife. Enhancing situations for toads – ie building water habitats, conserving woodland and constructing toad tunnels – "benefits for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Cultural Significance

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