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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 market town in Wiltshire to join volunteers from a amphibian rescue group. These dedicated individuals give up their nights to safeguard the native amphibian community.

An Alarming Decline in Population

The Bufo bufo is growing more rare. A latest study led by an wildlife conservation group revealed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since 1985. Seeing a species that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decrease is described as "concerning" by researchers. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "ought to live successfully in the majority of areas in the UK," so if even they are struggling to persist, "it indicates that things are not as they should be."

The UK toad population has almost halved since 1985

The Threat from Traffic

Though the study didn't examine the reasons for the decline, cars certainly plays a part. Calculations indicate that 20 tons of toads are killed on British roads every year – in other words, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which would probably be content to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads favor big bodies of water. Their ability to remain away from water for longer than frogs means they can travel further to reach them – sometimes long distances. They usually follow their traditional paths – it's typical for mature amphibians to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Fittingly, the initial amphibians begin their quest for a mate around February 14th, but some move as late as spring, waiting until it gets dark and moving through the night. During that period, toads start moving from where they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who grew up 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 have an orgy." If their path crosses a road, they could all get run over, and that mating period would be lost – preventing a next generation of toads from being produced.

Toad Patrols Throughout the UK

Finding hundreds of dead toads on local roads "resonates deeply with people," and has resulted in the formation of toad patrols across the UK – 274 groups are officially listed with a countrywide program. These teams collect toads and transport them across roads in buckets, as well as recording the number of toads they find and lobbying for other safety solutions, such as blocked roads and underground wildlife tunnels.

Patrols tend to operate during the breeding period, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this means they can overlook groups of toadlets, which, having been spawn and then tadpoles, exit their ponds over an unpredictable schedule in the end of 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 carcasses can be counted.

Year-Round Work

In contrast to most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth year of operating, go out year-round – not nightly, but whenever conditions are damp, or if someone has reported about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on patrol, they admit it is "not ideal conditions" – toad hibernation season has started and it's been a dry day – but a few of the volunteers willingly accept to patrol their area with me and see what we can find. "If anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two will spot one," says the group coordinator, indicating her teenage child and the experienced member. After for 120 minutes without a single toad sighting, and now they have scaled a wire barrier to inspect beneath some wood.

Family Involvement

The family duo became part of the patrol a while back. The teenager loves all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a conservationist, so his mother started to look for things they could do together to help local wildlife. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the 41-year-old small business owner explains – so when the team was seeking a new manager lately, she decided to step up.

The teenager, too, has been instrumental in the group. A clip he made, imploring the municipal authority to close a road through a nature reserve during breeding time, influenced the outcome the team's way. After a twelve months of campaigning, the council approved an "access-only" rule between 5pm and 5am from late winter through to April. The majority of motorists duly avoided the road.

Additional Species and Difficulties

Several cars go by when I'm out on patrol and we find some casualties as a consequence – no amphibians, but several crushed salamanders. We spot one living newt as well, and the youngster is especially excited to see a daddy longlegs, which moves in his palms. Yet despite the group's best efforts to show me a toad, the local population has obviously settled down for the winter. It seems that I wouldn't have had any better success elsewhere in the country – all the rescue teams I reach out to clarify that it's very difficult at this season.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

One email I get from another volunteer, who has kindly made the effort to look for toads in a noted location, considered the largest accurately monitored toad population in the UK, reaches me with the title: "No toads." However, in February and March, he tells me, the group plans to assist around 10,000 mature amphibians over the street.

Effectiveness and Limitations

How much of a difference can these organizations actually make? "The fact that people are performing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is remarkable," notes an expert. "That's something 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.

Additional Threats

The global warming has resulted in longer periods of drought, which create the wrong conditions for some of the creatures that toads consume, such as invertebrates, while higher water temperatures have led to an increase of toxic plants, which can be harmful to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to emerge from their dormancy more often, disrupting the resource preservation vital to their life cycle. Habitat destruction – particularly the disappearance of large ponds – is an additional threat.

Experts are "always a bit worried about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on wildlife," however "There is a big value in just having these animals around." But toads play an significant part in the food chain, eating pretty much any invertebrates or tiny organisms they can swallow and in turn feeding a number of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving conditions for toads – ie building water habitats, protecting forests and installing amphibian passages – "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," notes an expert. Legends and tales around toads go back {centuries|hundred