🔗 Share this article

It's a Friday night at half past seven, but instead of going out or relaxing at home, I've caught a train to a town in Wiltshire to meet up with volunteers from a toad patrol. These committed people sacrifice their evenings to protect the local toad population.

An Alarming Decline in Numbers

The common toad is growing more uncommon. A latest research led by an wildlife conservation group showed that the UK toad population have almost halved since 1985. Observing a species that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decline is described as "worrying" by experts. Toads "don't require very particular environments" and "should be able to live successfully in most of habitats in Britain," so if even they are not managing to survive, "it kind of suggests 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 examine the reasons for the drop, cars is a major factor. Calculations suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are crushed on UK roads annually – in other words, hundreds of thousands. In contrast to frogs, which might be content to mate "if you left out a small container," toads prefer big bodies of water. Their capacity to remain away from water for more time than frogs allows they can travel further to reach them – sometimes long distances. They tend to stick to their traditional paths – it's typical for adult toads to go back to their birth pond to mate.

Migration Habits

Appropriately enough, the initial amphibians begin their quest for a mate around February 14th, but some move as late as spring, until it gets night and travelling after sunset. During that time, toads start moving from where they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who was raised in the area and has been trying to protect its toad population since he was a child, notes that "They've got just one focus: to go and have an orgy." If their route crosses a street, they could all get run over, and that mating period would never happen – stopping a next generation of toads from being born.

Rescue Groups Across the United Kingdom

Finding many of toad carcasses on local roads "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has resulted in the creation of toad patrols throughout the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a countrywide program. These teams pick up toads and transport them over streets in buckets, as well as recording the quantity of toads they find and advocating for other protection measures, such as road closures and amphibian passages.

Patrols tend to operate during the migration season, when toad crossings are more regular. However, this means they can overlook numbers of toadlets, which, having been spawn and then tadpoles, leave their water habitats over an unpredictable schedule in late summer. Because of their size – just one or two centimetres wide – "they are destroyed by vehicles." And as being run over "essentially crushes them," it's harder to get data on them. At least when adult toads are killed, their remains can be counted.

Year-Round Efforts

In contrast to most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth year of operating, go out year-round – not every night, but when weather are warm and wet, or if someone has posted about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on duty, they concede it is "not a toady night" – winter dormancy has begun and it's been a dry day – but several of the helpers gamely agree to patrol their route with me and search for any toads. "If 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. We've been out for 120 minutes without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have climbed over a wire barrier to check under some logs.

Community Involvement

The family duo joined the patrol a year and a half ago. The youngster loves all things nature-related and has an goal to become a environmentalist, 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 entrepreneur explains – so when the group was looking for a new manager recently, she volunteered for the role.

The teenager, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A video he made, urging the local council to close a road through a protected area during migration season, swung the decision the team's way. After a twelve months of campaigning, the authority approved an "restricted access" rule between evening and morning from late winter through to spring. The majority of motorists duly avoided the route.

Other Wildlife and Challenges

A few vehicles go by when I'm out on patrol and we discover some victims as a result – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We spot one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is particularly pleased to see a harvestman, which dances in his hands. Yet in spite of the group's best efforts to let me see a toad, the local population has clearly settled down for the colder months. It appears that I couldn't have found any more luck elsewhere in the nation – all the rescue teams I contact explain that it's very difficult at this time of year.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

One email I get from a different helper, who has kindly taken the trouble to look for toads in a noted location, considered the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the title: "No toads." However, in February and March, he tells me, the group expects to help around 10,000 mature amphibians over the street.

Impact and Challenges

What level of impact can these groups actually make? "The reality that volunteers are doing this regularly on chilly, wet and miserable evenings is quite extraordinary," says an expert. "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 not the only threat.

Additional Threats

The global warming has meant longer periods of dry weather, which cause the wrong conditions for some of the animals that toads consume, such as invertebrates, while warmer ponds have caused an increase of toxic plants, which can be toxic to toads. Milder winters also lead toads to emerge from their hibernation more frequently, disrupting the resource preservation vital to their existence. Loss of environment – particularly the disappearance of big water bodies – is another menace.

Experts are "always a bit worried about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," but "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads do have an important role in the food chain, consuming pretty much any small creatures or tiny organisms they can fit in their mouths and in turn feeding a number of birds and mammals, such as wildlife. Improving conditions for toads – such as building water habitats, protecting forests and installing amphibian passages – "we'll improve them for a wide range of other species."

Historical Significance

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