🔗 Share this article

It is Friday night at half past seven, but rather than going out or relaxing at home, I've taken a train to a market town in Wiltshire to join volunteers from a amphibian rescue group. These dedicated individuals sacrifice their nights to safeguard the local toad population.

An Alarming Drop in Population

The common toad is growing more rare. A latest research led by an wildlife conservation group showed that the British common toad numbers have almost halved since 1985. Seeing a creature that has been a stalwart of the British countryside in decrease is labeled "concerning" by researchers. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "should be able to live successfully in most of areas in Britain," meaning if even they are not managing to survive, "it kind of suggests that things are not as they should be."

Since 1985, Britain's toad numbers have nearly been cut in half

The Danger from Roads

Though the research didn't examine the reasons for the decline, cars certainly plays a part. Estimates indicate 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 happy to mate "if you left out a small container," toads favor big bodies of water. Their ability to remain away from water for more time than frogs allows they can travel further to find them – sometimes hundreds of metres. They tend to follow their ancestral migration routes – it's common for adult toads to go back to their natal 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 April, waiting until it gets dark and travelling after sunset. During that time, toads begin migrating from where they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."

A local helper, who was raised in the area and has been working to save its amphibians since he was a child, explains that "Their sole purpose: to go and mate." If their route crosses a road, they could be killed by traffic, and that mating period would never happen – stopping a new generation of toads from being produced.

Toad Patrols Across the United Kingdom

Seeing hundreds of toad carcasses on local roads "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has resulted in the formation of rescue teams across the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a national initiative. These groups collect toads and carry them over streets in buckets, as well as counting the quantity of toads they find and advocating 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 means they can overlook groups of toadlets, which, having been eggs and then juveniles, exit 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 vehicles." And as being run over "essentially crushes them," it's harder to collect information on them. At least when adult toads are killed, their carcasses can be tallied.

Year-Round Work

Unlike most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth year of operating, go out throughout the year – not nightly, but when conditions are damp, or if a member has posted about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on duty, they admit it is "not ideal conditions" – winter dormancy has started 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 find any toads tonight, that pair will spot one," says the patrol manager, indicating her 14-year-old son and the longtime volunteer. After for two hours without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have climbed over a wire barrier to check under some logs.

Community Participation

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 environmentalist, so his mother started to look for things they could do together to help native animals. Now she loves it as much as he does, the middle-aged entrepreneur explains – so when the team was looking for a new manager lately, she decided to step up.

The youth, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A clip he made, urging the municipal authority to close a road through a protected area during migration season, influenced the outcome the team's way. After a year of campaigning, the council agreed to an "access-only" rule between 5pm and 5am from late winter through to April. Most drivers duly avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Difficulties

Several vehicles go by when I'm out on duty and we find some casualties as a consequence – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We spot one living newt as well, and the teenager is particularly pleased to see a harvestman, which moves in his hands. Yet despite the group's best efforts to show me a toad, the native community has clearly settled down for the colder months. It seems that I wouldn't have had any better success anywhere else in the nation – all the rescue teams I reach out to clarify that it's near-impossible at this time of year.

This team anticipates assisting around ten thousand mature toads over the street

A message I receive from a different helper, who has kindly taken the trouble to check for toads in a famous site, 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 group plans to assist around 10,000 adult toads over the street.

Effectiveness and Limitations

How much of a difference can these organizations truly achieve? "The fact that people are performing this regularly on chilly, wet and miserable evenings is quite extraordinary," says an researcher. "This effort that very much deserves recognition." However, while toad patrols are able to reduce the drop, they can't stop it completely – partly since vehicles is just one danger.

Additional Threats

The global warming has resulted in extended spells of drought, which cause the wrong conditions for some of the animals that toads consume, such as invertebrates, while higher water temperatures have led to an increase of toxic plants, which can be toxic to toads. Warmer cold seasons also lead toads to wake up from their hibernation more frequently, interfering with the energy conservation crucial to their life cycle. Habitat destruction – particularly the disappearance of big water bodies – is another menace.

Experts are "often concerned about overemphasizing practical benefits on biodiversity," however "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads play an important role in the ecosystem, eating almost any invertebrates or small animals they can swallow and in turn feeding a variety of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving situations for toads – ie creating more ponds, protecting forests and installing toad tunnels – "we'll improve them for a wide range of other species."

Historical Significance

An additional motive to work to preserve toads present is their "important cultural value," notes an specialist. Myths and folklore around toads date back {centuries|hundred