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It's a Friday evening at half past seven, but instead of going out or watching a film, I've caught a train to a town in Wiltshire to meet up with volunteers from a toad patrol. These committed people give up their evenings to safeguard the local toad population.

A Worrying Decline in Numbers

The common toad is becoming increasingly uncommon. A recent study conducted by an amphibian and reptile charity showed that the UK toad population have almost halved since the mid-1980s. Seeing a creature that has been a stalwart of the British countryside in decline is described as "concerning" by researchers. Toads "don't require very particular environments" and "should be able to live quite well in the majority of habitats in the UK," so if even they are struggling to persist, "it indicates that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

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

The Danger from Roads

Though the study didn't cover the causes for the drop, traffic is a major factor. Calculations suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are crushed on British roads annually – that is, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which might be content to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads prefer large ponds. Their ability to stay out of water for longer than frogs means they can travel further to find them – sometimes hundreds of metres. They usually follow their traditional paths – it's typical for adult toads to go back to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Appropriately enough, the first toads begin their quest for a mate around Valentine's day, but others travel as far as spring, waiting until it gets night and moving through the night. During that period, toads begin migrating from where they have been hibernating "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who grew up in the area and has been working to save its amphibians since he was a child, explains that "Their sole purpose: to go and mate." If their route crosses a street, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would never happen – preventing a next generation of toads from being produced.

Rescue Groups Throughout the UK

Seeing hundreds of toad carcasses on local roads "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has led to the formation of toad patrols across the UK – hundreds of organizations are currently registered with a countrywide program. These teams pick up toads and transport them over streets in buckets, as well as recording the quantity of toads they encounter and lobbying for other protection measures, 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 numbers of young toads, which, having been eggs and then juveniles, exit their ponds over an irregular timetable in the end of summer. Because of their size – just one or two centimetres wide – "they are destroyed by vehicles." And as being hit "essentially crushes them," it's harder to get data on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their carcasses 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 nightly, but whenever weather are warm and wet, or if someone has posted about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I request to accompany them on duty, they concede it is "not ideal conditions" – toad hibernation season has begun and it's been a arid period – but several of the volunteers gamely agree to patrol their area with me and see what we can find. "Should anyone can locate any toads tonight, that pair will find one," says the patrol manager, pointing to her teenage child 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 wood.

Family Involvement

The family duo became part of the patrol a while back. The youngster loves all things wildlife and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his parent started to search for things they could do jointly to protect local wildlife. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the 41-year-old entrepreneur explains – so when the group was looking for a fresh coordinator lately, she decided to step up.

The youth, too, has played an important role in the organization. A clip he made, imploring the municipal authority to close a street through a nature reserve during migration season, influenced the outcome the group's way. After a twelve months of lobbying, the council approved an "restricted access" restriction between 5pm and 5am from February through to spring. Most drivers respected and avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Difficulties

Several vehicles go past when I'm out on duty and we discover some casualties as a consequence – no amphibians, but several crushed salamanders. We see one live amphibian as well, and the youngster is particularly pleased to see a harvestman, which moves in his hands. Yet despite the group's best efforts to show me a toad, the native community has obviously gone dormant for the winter. It appears that I couldn't have found any more luck elsewhere in the country – all the patrol groups 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 receive from another volunteer, who has generously made the effort to check for toads in a famous site, thought to be the largest accurately monitored toad population in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the subject line: "No toads." However, in late winter, he tells me, the group expects to help approximately 10,000 mature amphibians across the road.

Impact and Limitations

What level of impact can these organizations truly achieve? "The fact that volunteers are doing this regularly on chilly, wet and miserable late nights is quite extraordinary," 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 – not least because vehicles is not the only threat.

Other Dangers

The global warming has meant extended spells of dry weather, which create the poor environment for some of the animals that toads consume, such as invertebrates, while higher water temperatures have caused an increase of blue-green algae, which can be toxic to toads. Milder winters also lead toads to emerge from their hibernation more frequently, interfering with the resource preservation crucial to their existence. Loss of environment – especially the loss of big water bodies – is an additional threat.

Researchers are "often concerned about overemphasizing practical benefits on wildlife," however "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads play an important role in the food chain, eating pretty much any small creatures or small animals they can swallow and in turn feeding a number of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving conditions for toads – ie creating more ponds, protecting forests and installing toad tunnels – "we'll improve them for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Historical Significance

An additional motive to work to preserve toads present is their "important cultural value," adds an specialist. Legends and tales around toads date back {centuries|hundred