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It's a Friday evening at half past seven, but instead of heading to the pub or relaxing at home, I've taken a train to a town in Wiltshire to meet up with local helpers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals sacrifice their nights to safeguard the local toad population.

An Alarming Drop in Numbers

The common toad is becoming increasingly uncommon. A latest research led by an amphibian and reptile charity showed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since 1985. Observing a creature that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decrease is labeled "worrying" by researchers. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "ought to live quite well in the majority of areas in Britain," so if even they are not managing to survive, "it kind of suggests that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

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

The Danger from Traffic

Though the study didn't cover the reasons for the drop, cars certainly plays a part. Calculations indicate that 20 tons of toads are crushed on UK roads every year – that is, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which would probably be content to mate "if you left out a small container," toads favor large ponds. Their capacity to remain away from water for longer than frogs allows they can travel further to find them – sometimes long distances. They tend to follow their ancestral migration routes – it's common for mature amphibians to go back to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Appropriately enough, the initial amphibians start their journey for a partner around February 14th, but others travel as late as April, until it gets dark and moving after sunset. During that time, toads begin migrating from wherever they have been overwintering "all pretty much at the same time."

One volunteer, who grew up in the area and has been trying to protect its amphibians since he was a boy, notes that "They've got just one focus: to go and have an orgy." If their path crosses a road, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would never happen – stopping a next generation of toads from being born.

Rescue Groups Across the UK

Seeing many of toad carcasses on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has resulted in the formation of rescue teams across the UK – hundreds of organizations are currently registered 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 advocating for other safety solutions, such as blocked roads and underground wildlife tunnels.

Patrols usually work during the breeding period, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this implies they can miss groups of young toads, which, having been eggs and then tadpoles, leave their ponds over an irregular timetable in late summer. Because of their small stature – just one or two centimetres wide – "they can get obliterated by car traffic." And as being hit "basically turns them into mush," it's more difficult to get data on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their carcasses can be counted.

Annual Work

In contrast to most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth year of operating, go out throughout the year – not every night, but when conditions are damp, or if a member has posted about a toad sighting in their group chat. When I ask to join them on duty, they concede it is "not a toady night" – toad hibernation season has begun and it's been a dry day – but a few of the volunteers willingly accept to patrol their area with me and search for any toads. "Should anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the group coordinator, pointing to her 14-year-old son and the experienced member. We've been out for 120 minutes without a single toad sighting, and now they have scaled a wire barrier to check under some logs.

Community Involvement

The mother and son became part of the group a year and a half ago. The youngster adores all things nature-related and has an goal to become a conservationist, 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 middle-aged entrepreneur explains – so when the group was looking for a fresh coordinator lately, she volunteered for the role.

The youth, too, has been instrumental in the group. A video he made, urging the local council to block a street through a nature reserve during migration season, swung the decision the team's way. After a year of campaigning, the authority agreed to an "restricted access" rule between 5pm and 5am from late winter through to April. The majority of motorists respected and avoided the route.

Other Wildlife and Difficulties

A few vehicles go by when I'm out on duty and we discover some casualties as a consequence – no amphibians, but several crushed salamanders. We see one living newt as well, and the teenager is particularly pleased to see a daddy longlegs, which moves in his palms. Yet despite the team's hardest attempts to show me a toad, the native community has obviously gone dormant for the colder months. It appears that I wouldn't have had any better success anywhere else in the nation – all the patrol groups I contact explain 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 famous site, considered the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the title: "No toads." However, in late winter, he tells me, the team expects to help approximately 10,000 adult toads across the road.

Impact and Challenges

What level of impact can these organizations truly achieve? "The fact that people are doing this consistently on cold, damp and unpleasant evenings is remarkable," notes an expert. "That's something 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 animals that toads consume, such as invertebrates, while warmer ponds have led to an increase of blue-green algae, which can be toxic to toads. Warmer cold seasons also lead toads to emerge from their dormancy more often, disrupting the resource preservation vital to their life cycle. Loss of environment – particularly the loss of large ponds – is another menace.

Researchers are "often concerned about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," however "There is a big value in just having these animals around." But toads do have an important role in the food chain, eating pretty much any small creatures or small animals they can swallow and in turn sustaining a number of predators, such as wildlife. Improving conditions for toads – such as creating more ponds, protecting forests and installing toad tunnels – "we'll improve them for a wide range of additional wildlife."

Cultural Significance

An additional motive to work to preserve toads around is their "historical significance," notes an expert. Legends and tales around toads date back {centuries|hundred