🔗 Share this article

It is a Friday evening at half past seven, but rather than going out or watching a film, I've taken a train to a market town in Wiltshire to join volunteers from a toad patrol. These committed people give up their nights to protect the local toad population.

A Worrying Drop in Numbers

The common toad is becoming increasingly 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 creature that has been a fixture of the UK landscape in decline is described as "worrying" by experts. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "ought to live successfully in the majority of areas in Britain," meaning if even they are not managing to survive, "it indicates that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

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

The Danger from Roads

Though the study didn't cover the reasons for the drop, traffic certainly plays a part. Estimates suggest that 20 tons of toads are crushed on British roads annually – in other words, several hundred thousand. In contrast to frogs, which would probably be content to mate "if you left out a small container," toads favor large ponds. Their capacity to stay out of water for more time than frogs means they can travel further to find them – sometimes hundreds of metres. They usually follow their traditional paths – it's common for mature amphibians to return to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Patterns

Appropriately enough, the first toads start their journey for a partner around February 14th, but some move as late as spring, waiting until it gets dark and moving after sunset. During that time, toads start moving from where they have been hibernating "almost simultaneously."

A local helper, who was raised in the area and has been working to save its toad population since he was a boy, explains that "Their sole purpose: to go and mate." If their path crosses a road, they could be killed by traffic, and that mating period would be lost – stopping a next generation of toads from being produced.

Rescue Groups Throughout the United Kingdom

Finding many of dead toads on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has resulted in the creation of toad patrols 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 quantity of toads they find and advocating for other protection measures, such as road closures and underground wildlife tunnels.

Volunteers usually work during the breeding period, when toad crossings are more regular. However, this implies they can overlook groups of young toads, which, having existed as eggs and then juveniles, leave 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 "essentially crushes them," it's more difficult to get data on them. At least when adult toads are killed, their carcasses can be tallied.

Year-Round Work

In contrast to many groups, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of functioning, go out year-round – not every night, but whenever conditions are damp, or if someone has posted about a amphibian spotting in their messaging app. When I request to accompany them on duty, they concede it is "not a toady night" – toad hibernation season has begun and it's been a arid period – but several of the volunteers willingly accept to walk up and down their area with me and search for any toads. "Should anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two will spot one," says the group coordinator, 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 barbed wire fence to check under some logs.

Family Involvement

The family duo joined the group a while back. The teenager adores all things wildlife and has an goal to become a environmentalist, so his mother started to look for activities they could do jointly to help native animals. Now she loves it as much as he does, the middle-aged entrepreneur explains – so when the team was seeking a fresh coordinator recently, she volunteered for the role.

The youth, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A video he made, imploring the local council to close a road through a nature reserve during breeding time, influenced the outcome the team's way. After a year of campaigning, the authority approved an "access-only" restriction between evening and morning from late winter through to April. Most drivers duly avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Challenges

Several vehicles go by when I'm out on duty and we discover some casualties as a result – no amphibians, but several crushed salamanders. We see one living newt as well, and the youngster is especially excited to see a daddy longlegs, which moves in his hands. Yet in spite of the group's best efforts 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 more luck anywhere else in the country – all the patrol groups I contact explain that it's very difficult at this season.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

A message I receive from a different helper, who has generously taken the trouble to check for toads in a noted location, considered the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the subject line: "No toads." However, in February and March, he tells me, the team expects to help approximately 10,000 adult toads over the street.

Effectiveness and Limitations

What level of impact can these organizations truly achieve? "The reality that volunteers are doing this consistently on chilly, wet and miserable evenings is quite extraordinary," notes an expert. "This effort that very much deserves recognition." However, while rescue teams are able to reduce the drop, they can't stop it completely – not least because vehicles is just one danger.

Other Dangers

The global warming has resulted in extended spells of drought, which create the wrong conditions for some of the creatures that toads consume, such as worms and slugs, while warmer ponds have led to an rise of toxic plants, which can be toxic to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to wake up from their dormancy more frequently, interfering with the resource preservation vital to their life cycle. Habitat destruction – especially the disappearance of big water bodies – is another menace.

Researchers are "often concerned about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," but "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads play an important role in the ecosystem, consuming pretty much any small creatures or tiny organisms they can swallow and in turn feeding a number of birds and mammals, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving situations for toads – ie building water habitats, protecting forests and installing amphibian passages – "benefits for a whole bunch of other species."

Historical Significance

An additional motive to try to keep toads around is their "historical significance," adds an expert. Myths and folklore around toads go back {centuries|hundred