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It's Friday evening at 7:30, but rather than heading to the pub or watching a film, I've caught a train to a town in Wiltshire to join volunteers from a toad patrol. These committed people give up their nights to protect the native amphibian community.

An Alarming Drop in Numbers

The common toad is growing more uncommon. A latest research led by an amphibian and reptile charity showed that the British common toad numbers have dropped by half since 1985. Observing a species that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decrease is described as "worrying" by experts. Toads "don't require very particular environments" and "ought to live quite well in the majority of habitats in the UK," meaning if even they are struggling to persist, "it kind of suggests that things are not as they should be."

The UK toad population has almost halved since 1985

The Threat from Traffic

Though the research didn't cover the reasons for the decline, cars certainly plays a part. Calculations suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on British roads every year – that is, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which might be content to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads favor big bodies of water. Their ability to stay out of water for more time than frogs means they can travel further to find them – often hundreds of metres. They usually follow their traditional paths – it's typical for mature amphibians to go back to their birth pond to mate.

Migration Habits

Fittingly, the initial amphibians start their journey for a mate around Valentine's day, but some move as late as April, until it gets night and travelling after sunset. During that period, toads start moving from where they have been hibernating "all pretty much at the same time."

A local helper, who was raised in the region and has been working to save its toad population since he was a boy, explains that "They've got just one focus: to go and mate." If their route happens to a street, they could be killed by traffic, and that mating period would never happen – stopping a next generation of toads from being born.

Rescue Groups Across the UK

Finding hundreds of toad carcasses on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the formation of rescue teams across the UK – 274 groups are currently registered with a national initiative. These teams collect toads and carry them across roads in buckets, as well as recording the number of toads they find and lobbying for other protection measures, such as road closures and amphibian passages.

Volunteers tend to operate during the migration season, when amphibian movements are more regular. However, this implies they can overlook numbers of toadlets, which, having existed as eggs and then juveniles, leave their ponds over an irregular timetable in late summer. Because of their small stature – just a couple of cm wide – "they can get obliterated by vehicles." And as being hit "essentially crushes them," it's more difficult to collect information on them. At least when mature amphibians are lost, their remains can be counted.

Annual Work

Unlike many groups, one local team, who are in their eighth season of operating, go out throughout the year – not nightly, but when conditions are damp, or if a member has reported about a amphibian spotting in their group chat. 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 several of the helpers gamely agree to patrol their area with me and search for any toads. "If anyone can locate any toads tonight, that pair will find one," says the patrol manager, pointing to her 14-year-old son and the experienced member. After for two hours without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have climbed over a wire barrier to inspect beneath some logs.

Community Involvement

The family duo became part of the group a while back. The youngster adores all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a conservationist, so his mother started to search for activities they could do together to help local wildlife. Now she loves it as much as he does, the middle-aged small business owner explains – so when the team was looking for a new manager lately, she volunteered for the role.

The teenager, too, has been instrumental in the group. A clip he made, urging the municipal authority to block a street through a nature reserve during breeding time, influenced the outcome the group's way. After a year of campaigning, the council approved an "access-only" rule between evening and morning from February through to April. The majority of motorists respected and avoided the route.

Additional Species and Difficulties

A few cars go past when I'm out on patrol and we discover some casualties as a consequence – no toads, but three squashed newts. We spot one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is particularly pleased to see a daddy longlegs, which moves in his hands. Yet in spite of the team's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the native community has obviously gone dormant for the winter. It appears that I couldn't have found any better success anywhere else in the country – all the rescue teams I contact clarify that it's very difficult at this season.

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

A message I receive from another volunteer, who has kindly taken the trouble to look for toads in a noted location, considered the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, reaches me with the title: "None found." However, in February and March, he informs me, the team expects to help approximately ten thousand adult toads across the road.

Effectiveness and Limitations

How much of a difference can these groups actually make? "The fact that people are doing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is remarkable," says an expert. "This effort that very much should be celebrated." However, while rescue teams are able to slow the decline, they can't stop it completely – partly since traffic is not the only threat.

Other Dangers

The global warming has meant longer periods of drought, which cause the wrong conditions for some of the animals that toads consume, such as worms and slugs, 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, disrupting the resource preservation crucial to their life cycle. Habitat destruction – especially the loss of big water bodies – is an additional threat.

Experts are "often concerned about overemphasizing practical benefits on biodiversity," but "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads do have an significant part in the ecosystem, consuming pretty much any invertebrates or tiny organisms they can fit in their mouths and in turn sustaining a number of predators, such as wildlife. Improving situations for toads – ie building water habitats, conserving woodland and installing toad tunnels – "we'll improve them for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Historical Importance

Another reason to work to preserve toads present is their "historical significance," adds an expert. Myths and folklore around toads go back {centuries|hundred