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It's a Friday evening at half past seven, but instead of heading to the pub or watching a film, I've caught a train to a market town in the countryside to meet up with local helpers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals sacrifice their evenings to safeguard the native amphibian community.

An Alarming Decline in Population

The common toad is growing more uncommon. A recent research conducted by an amphibian and reptile charity showed that the British common toad numbers have dropped by half since the mid-1980s. Seeing a species that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decrease is labeled "worrying" by researchers. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "should be able to live quite well in the majority of areas in the UK," meaning if even they are struggling to persist, "it indicates that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

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

The Threat from Roads

Though the study didn't cover the causes for the decline, traffic is a major factor. Calculations suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are crushed on British roads annually – in other words, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which might be happy to mate "with just a small container," toads prefer big bodies of water. Their capacity to remain away from water for longer than frogs means they can travel further to find them – sometimes long distances. They tend to follow their traditional paths – it's typical for adult toads to return to their natal pond to mate.

Breeding Patterns

Fittingly, the initial amphibians start their journey for a partner around February 14th, but some move as late as April, waiting until it gets night and moving after sunset. During that period, toads start moving from wherever they have been hibernating "almost simultaneously."

A local helper, who was raised in the region and has been trying to protect its toad population since he was a boy, notes that "Their sole purpose: to go and have an orgy." If their route crosses a road, they could all get run over, and that mating period would be lost – stopping a next generation of toads from being produced.

Rescue Groups Throughout the United Kingdom

Finding hundreds of toad carcasses on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the creation of rescue teams throughout the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a national initiative. These teams collect toads and carry them over streets in buckets, as well as counting the number of toads they encounter and lobbying for other protection measures, such as road closures and amphibian passages.

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 spawn and then tadpoles, leave their ponds 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 get data on them. At least when adult toads are lost, their carcasses can be counted.

Year-Round Work

Unlike many groups, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of operating, go out year-round – not every night, but when conditions are warm and wet, or if someone has reported about a toad sighting in their group chat. When I ask to join them on patrol, they admit it is "not a toady night" – winter dormancy has started and it's been a dry day – but a few of the volunteers gamely agree to walk up and down their route with me and see what we can find. "If 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 two hours without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have scaled a wire barrier to check under some wood.

Community Participation

The family duo became part of the group a year and a half ago. The teenager adores all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a conservationist, so his parent started to search for things they could do together to protect native animals. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the middle-aged small business owner explains – so when the team was looking for a new manager recently, she volunteered for the role.

The teenager, too, has been instrumental in the group. A video he created, imploring the municipal authority to block a street through a protected area during migration season, influenced the outcome the group's way. After a year of lobbying, the authority agreed to an "access-only" rule between evening and morning from February through to spring. Most drivers duly avoided the route.

Additional Species and Challenges

A few cars go past when I'm out on patrol and we find some victims as a consequence – no toads, but three squashed newts. We see 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 best efforts to let me see a toad, the local population has clearly settled down for the colder months. It seems that I couldn't have found any more luck elsewhere in the country – all the patrol groups I reach out to clarify that it's near-impossible at this season.

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

One email I receive from a different helper, who has generously made the effort to look for toads in a famous site, thought to be the largest accurately monitored toad population in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the title: "No toads." However, in February and March, he informs me, the group plans to assist around ten thousand mature amphibians across the road.

Impact and Limitations

How much of a difference can these groups truly achieve? "The reality that people are performing this regularly on chilly, wet and miserable evenings is quite extraordinary," notes an expert. "This effort that very much should be celebrated." However, while toad patrols are able to slow the decline, they can't stop it completely – partly since vehicles is just one danger.

Other Dangers

The global warming has resulted in longer periods of dry weather, which cause the wrong conditions for some of the animals that toads consume, such as worms and slugs, while warmer ponds have caused an increase of blue-green algae, 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 life cycle. Loss of environment – especially the loss of big water bodies – is an additional threat.

Experts are "often concerned about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," but "It's important in just their presence." But toads play an important role in the food chain, eating almost any invertebrates or small animals they can fit in their mouths and in turn sustaining a variety of birds and mammals, such as wildlife. Enhancing conditions for toads – such as building water habitats, 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 present is their "historical significance," adds an expert. Legends and tales around toads go back {centuries|hundred