🔗 Share this article

It's a Friday evening at 7:30, but instead of going out or watching a film, I've taken a train to a town in Wiltshire to join volunteers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals give up their evenings to safeguard the local toad population.

A Worrying Drop in Numbers

The Bufo bufo is growing more rare. A latest research led by an wildlife conservation group showed that the British common toad numbers have almost halved since the mid-1980s. Seeing a creature that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decline is described as "concerning" by experts. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "should be able to live successfully in the majority of areas in the UK," so if even they are struggling to persist, "it kind of suggests that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

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

The Danger from Roads

Though the research 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 – that is, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which might be happy to mate "if you left out a small container," toads favor big bodies of water. Their capacity to stay out of water for longer than frogs allows they can journey farther to reach them – sometimes hundreds of metres. They tend to stick to their traditional paths – it's typical for mature amphibians to return to their natal pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Appropriately enough, the initial amphibians start their journey for a partner around February 14th, but some move as far as spring, waiting until it gets dark and travelling through the night. During that period, toads begin migrating from where they have been hibernating "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who grew up in the area and has been working to save its amphibians since he was a boy, notes 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 new generation of toads from being produced.

Toad Patrols Throughout the United Kingdom

Seeing many of dead toads on local roads "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has resulted in the formation of toad patrols throughout the UK – 274 groups are officially listed with a national initiative. These teams pick up toads and transport them across roads in buckets, as well as recording the quantity of toads they encounter and lobbying for other protection measures, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Volunteers usually work during the migration season, when toad crossings are more regular. However, this implies they can overlook groups of young toads, which, having been eggs and then juveniles, exit their ponds over an unpredictable schedule in the end of summer. Because of their small stature – just one or two centimetres wide – "they can get obliterated by vehicles." And as being hit "basically turns them into mush," it's more difficult to get data on them. At least when adult toads are lost, their carcasses can be tallied.

Year-Round Work

Unlike most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth season of operating, go out throughout the year – not every night, but whenever weather are warm and wet, or if someone has posted about a toad sighting in their group chat. When I request to accompany them on duty, they concede it is "not a toady night" – winter dormancy has begun and it's been a arid period – but several of the helpers willingly accept to walk up and down their area with me and search for any toads. "Should anyone can locate any toads tonight, that pair will find one," says the patrol manager, pointing to her 14-year-old son and the longtime volunteer. We've been out for 120 minutes without a single toad sighting, and now they have scaled a barbed wire fence to inspect beneath some wood.

Community Involvement

The family duo became part of the patrol a while back. The teenager adores all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a conservationist, so his parent started to look for activities they could do together to protect local wildlife. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the middle-aged entrepreneur explains – so when the group was seeking a fresh coordinator lately, she decided to step up.

The teenager, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A clip he created, imploring the local council to close a street through a nature reserve during breeding time, influenced the outcome the team's way. After a year of lobbying, the council approved an "access-only" restriction between 5pm and 5am from February through to April. The majority of motorists duly avoided the route.

Additional Species and Difficulties

Several cars go past when I'm out on duty and we find some casualties as a result – no amphibians, but several crushed salamanders. We see one live amphibian as well, and the youngster is especially excited to see a daddy longlegs, which dances in his palms. Yet despite the group's best efforts to show me a toad, the local population has clearly gone dormant for the winter. It seems that I wouldn't have had any more luck elsewhere in the nation – all the rescue teams I contact explain that it's near-impossible 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 generously 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 subject line: "No toads." However, in February and March, he informs me, the group plans to assist around ten thousand mature amphibians over the street.

Effectiveness and Limitations

How much of a difference can these groups truly achieve? "The reality that people are doing this consistently on chilly, wet and miserable late nights is quite extraordinary," notes an expert. "That's something that very much deserves recognition." However, while rescue teams are able to slow the decline, they cannot prevent it entirely – partly since vehicles is not the only threat.

Additional Threats

The climate crisis has resulted in longer periods of dry weather, which create the poor environment for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as invertebrates, while higher water temperatures have caused an increase of toxic plants, which can be toxic to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to wake up from their dormancy more often, interfering with the energy conservation crucial to their life cycle. Loss of environment – particularly the loss of large ponds – is an additional threat.

Experts are "always a bit worried about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," however "There is a big value in just having these animals around." But toads do have an significant part in the ecosystem, consuming pretty much any invertebrates or tiny organisms they can swallow and in turn feeding a variety of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing situations for toads – ie creating more ponds, protecting forests and constructing amphibian passages – "we'll improve them for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Cultural Importance

An additional motive to work to preserve toads around is their "important cultural value," adds an specialist. Legends and tales around toads go back {centuries|hundred