🔗 Share this article

It is Friday evening at half past seven, but instead of going out or watching a film, I've taken a train to a market town in the countryside to join volunteers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals sacrifice their nights to protect the local toad population.

A Worrying Drop in Numbers

The common toad is becoming increasingly uncommon. A recent study led by an wildlife conservation group revealed that the British common toad numbers have dropped by half since the mid-1980s. Observing a species that has been a stalwart of the UK landscape in decrease is described as "concerning" by experts. Toads "don't need very particular environments" and "ought to live quite well in the majority of areas in Britain," meaning if even they are struggling to persist, "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 causes for the decline, cars is a major factor. Calculations indicate that 20 tons of toads are killed on UK roads annually – in other words, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which might be content to mate "if you left out a small container," toads prefer large ponds. Their ability to remain away from water for more time than frogs allows they can journey farther to reach them – often long distances. They tend to follow their traditional paths – it's common for adult toads to go back to their birth pond to mate.

Migration Habits

Fittingly, the initial amphibians start their journey for a mate around February 14th, but others travel as far as April, until it gets dark and travelling after sunset. During that period, toads begin migrating from where they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."

A local helper, who was raised in the area and has been trying to protect its toad population since he was a child, explains that "They've got just one focus: to go and have an orgy." If their path happens to a road, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would never happen – preventing a next generation of toads from being produced.

Rescue Groups Across the UK

Seeing hundreds of toad carcasses on local roads "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the formation of rescue teams across the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a countrywide program. These teams pick up toads and carry them over streets in containers, as well as counting the quantity of toads they encounter and advocating for other safety solutions, such as blocked roads and underground wildlife tunnels.

Patrols tend to operate during the migration season, when toad crossings are more regular. However, this means they can miss groups of young toads, which, having existed as eggs and then juveniles, leave their water habitats 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 car traffic." And as being hit "essentially crushes them," it's harder to get data on them. At least when mature amphibians are lost, their carcasses can be tallied.

Year-Round Efforts

Unlike many groups, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of operating, go out year-round – not every night, but when weather are damp, or if a member has reported about a amphibian spotting in their group chat. When I ask to join them on patrol, they concede it is "not a toady night" – toad hibernation season has begun and it's been a arid period – but a few of the volunteers willingly accept to walk up and down 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, pointing to her 14-year-old son and the longtime volunteer. After for 120 minutes without a single toad sighting, and now they have scaled a wire barrier to check under some wood.

Family Participation

The family duo became part of the group a while back. The teenager adores all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his mother started to search for things they could do jointly to help local wildlife. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the middle-aged small business owner explains – so when the group was looking for a fresh coordinator recently, she decided to step up.

The youth, too, has been instrumental in the group. A clip he made, urging the municipal authority to block a road through a nature reserve during breeding time, swung the decision the team's way. After a year of campaigning, the council agreed to an "restricted access" restriction between evening and morning from late winter through to April. The majority of motorists duly avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Challenges

Several vehicles go by when I'm out on duty and we find some victims 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 moves in his palms. Yet in spite of the team's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the local population has clearly gone dormant for the winter. It appears that I couldn't have found any better success anywhere else in the nation – all the patrol groups I contact clarify that it's near-impossible at this time of year.

The group expects to help approximately 10,000 adult toads across the road

One email I receive from another volunteer, who has generously taken the trouble to look for toads in a famous site, thought to be the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, reaches me with the title: "None found." However, in late winter, he informs me, the group plans to assist approximately ten thousand mature amphibians over the street.

Impact and Limitations

How much of a difference can these organizations truly achieve? "The reality that volunteers are doing this regularly on chilly, wet and miserable late nights is quite extraordinary," says an researcher. "This effort that very much deserves recognition." However, while toad patrols are able to slow the decline, they can't stop it completely – not least because traffic is just one danger.

Additional Threats

The climate crisis has meant longer periods of dry weather, which create the poor environment for some of the animals that toads consume, such as worms and slugs, while higher water temperatures have led to an rise of toxic plants, which can be toxic to toads. Warmer cold seasons also lead toads to emerge from their dormancy more often, interfering with the resource preservation vital to their existence. Habitat destruction – particularly the loss of big water bodies – is another menace.

Experts are "always a bit worried about overemphasizing practical benefits on wildlife," however "It's important in just their presence." But toads play an important role in the ecosystem, eating pretty much any small creatures or small animals they can swallow and in turn feeding a number of predators, such as wildlife. Enhancing conditions for toads – such as building water habitats, conserving woodland and installing toad tunnels – "we'll improve them for a wide range of other species."

Historical Importance

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