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It is a Friday evening at half past seven, but rather than heading to the pub 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 sacrifice their nights to protect the local toad population.

A Worrying Drop in Numbers

The common toad is growing more rare. A latest study led by an amphibian and reptile charity revealed that the UK toad population have almost halved since 1985. Seeing a species that has been a stalwart of the UK landscape in decrease is described as "concerning" by researchers. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "should be able to live successfully in most of habitats in the UK," so 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 Threat from Traffic

Though the study didn't examine the reasons for the decline, cars is a major factor. Calculations indicate that 20 tons of toads are killed on British roads annually – in other words, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which might be happy to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads prefer large ponds. Their ability to remain away from water for more time than frogs allows they can travel further to reach them – often hundreds of metres. They usually stick to their ancestral migration routes – it's typical for adult toads to go back to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Patterns

Fittingly, the first toads start their journey for a mate around Valentine's day, but some move as late as spring, until it gets dark and travelling through the night. During that period, toads start moving from where they have been overwintering "all pretty much at the same time."

One volunteer, who was raised in the region and has been trying to protect its amphibians since he was a child, explains that "Their sole purpose: to go and mate." If their route happens to a street, they could all get run over, and that breeding season would be lost – preventing a new generation of toads from being produced.

Rescue Groups Across the UK

Finding hundreds of dead toads on local roads "resonates deeply with people," and has resulted in the creation of toad patrols throughout the UK – 274 groups are currently registered with a countrywide program. These groups pick up toads and carry them across roads in buckets, as well as counting the quantity of toads they encounter and lobbying for other safety solutions, such as road closures and amphibian passages.

Patrols usually work during the migration season, when amphibian movements are frequent. However, this implies they can overlook numbers of young toads, which, having been spawn and then juveniles, exit their water habitats over an unpredictable schedule in late summer. Because of their size – just one or two centimetres wide – "they can get obliterated by car traffic." And as being run over "basically turns them into mush," it's harder to get data on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their remains can be tallied.

Annual Efforts

In contrast to many groups, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of functioning, go out year-round – not nightly, but when weather are damp, or if someone has reported about a amphibian spotting in their group chat. When I ask to join them on patrol, they admit it is "not a toady night" – toad hibernation season has started and it's been a arid period – but a few of the volunteers gamely agree to patrol their route with me and search for any toads. "If anyone can locate any toads tonight, that pair will spot one," says the patrol manager, pointing to her 14-year-old son and the longtime volunteer. We've been out for two hours without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have scaled a barbed wire fence to inspect beneath some logs.

Family Involvement

The mother and son became part of the patrol a year and a half ago. The youngster adores all things wildlife and has an goal to become a conservationist, so his mother started to look for things they could do together 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 fresh coordinator lately, she decided to step up.

The teenager, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A video he made, urging the local council to block a road through a nature reserve during breeding time, swung the decision the team's way. After a year of campaigning, the authority approved an "access-only" restriction between evening and morning from February through to April. Most drivers respected and avoided the road.

Additional Species and Challenges

A few vehicles go by when I'm out on duty and we find some victims 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 dances in his palms. Yet in spite of the group's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the native community has obviously settled down for the winter. It appears that I wouldn't have had any better success elsewhere in the nation – all the rescue teams I reach out to explain that it's near-impossible at this season.

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

A message I get from a different helper, who has kindly made the effort to check for toads in a noted location, considered the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the subject line: "No toads." However, in late winter, he informs me, the group plans to assist approximately 10,000 mature amphibians across the road.

Effectiveness and Limitations

How much of a difference can these groups actually make? "The fact that volunteers are performing this consistently on chilly, wet and miserable evenings is quite extraordinary," says an researcher. "This effort that very much deserves recognition." However, while rescue teams are able to slow the decline, they cannot prevent it entirely – not least because traffic is just one danger.

Other Dangers

The global warming has resulted in extended spells of dry weather, which create the poor environment for some of the creatures that toads consume, such as worms and slugs, while higher water temperatures have caused an increase of toxic plants, which can be toxic to toads. Warmer cold seasons also lead toads to wake up from their dormancy more often, disrupting the resource preservation crucial to their existence. 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 their presence." But toads play an important role in the food chain, eating almost any small creatures or tiny organisms they can swallow and in turn sustaining a variety of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving conditions for toads – ie building water habitats, protecting forests and constructing toad tunnels – "benefits for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Historical Significance

An additional motive to try to keep toads around is their "important cultural value," notes an specialist. Myths and folklore around toads date back {centuries|hundred