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It's Friday night at 7:30, but rather than going out or watching a film, I've taken a train to a town in the countryside to meet up with volunteers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals give up their nights to protect the local toad population.

An Alarming Decline in Numbers

The Bufo bufo is growing more rare. A recent research conducted by an wildlife conservation group showed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since the mid-1980s. Seeing a creature that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decline is labeled "worrying" by researchers. Toads "don't require very particular environments" and "should be able to live successfully in most of areas in the UK," so 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 cover the reasons for the drop, cars is a major factor. Estimates suggest that 20 tons of toads are crushed on UK roads every year – in other words, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which might be happy to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads prefer big bodies of water. Their capacity to stay out of water for longer than frogs means they can journey farther to reach them – often hundreds of metres. They usually follow their ancestral migration routes – it's typical for adult toads to return to their natal pond to mate.

Breeding Patterns

Appropriately enough, the initial amphibians start their journey for a mate around Valentine's day, but some move as late as spring, waiting until it gets night and travelling after sunset. During that period, toads begin migrating from where they have been hibernating "almost simultaneously."

A local helper, who grew up in the area and has been trying to protect its toad population since he was a boy, explains that "Their sole purpose: to go and have an orgy." If their path happens to a street, they could all get run over, and that breeding season would never happen – stopping a new generation of toads from being produced.

Rescue Groups Throughout the United Kingdom

Finding many of dead toads on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the creation of rescue teams throughout the UK – 274 groups are officially listed with a countrywide program. These groups pick up toads and transport them over streets in containers, as well as counting the quantity of toads they encounter and lobbying for other safety solutions, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Patrols usually work during the migration season, when amphibian movements are more regular. However, this means they can overlook groups of young toads, which, having existed as spawn and then juveniles, leave their water habitats over an irregular timetable 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 get data on them. At least when adult toads are lost, their remains can be tallied.

Annual Efforts

Unlike many groups, one local team, who are in their eighth year of functioning, go out throughout the year – not nightly, but whenever weather are damp, or if someone has reported about a amphibian spotting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on duty, they admit it is "not a toady night" – winter dormancy has started and it's been a arid period – but a few of the volunteers gamely agree to walk up and down their area with me and see what we can find. "Should anyone can locate any toads tonight, that pair will spot one," says the patrol manager, pointing to her 14-year-old son and the experienced member. We've been out for two hours without a single toad sighting, and now they have climbed over a barbed wire fence to check under some logs.

Family Involvement

The mother and son joined the group a while back. The youngster loves all things nature-related and has an goal to become a environmentalist, so his mother started to look for activities they could do together to protect local wildlife. Now she loves it as much as he does, the 41-year-old small business owner tells me – so when the group was looking for a fresh coordinator lately, she volunteered for the role.

The youth, too, has played an important role in the group. A clip he created, imploring the local council to close a road through a nature reserve during breeding time, influenced the outcome the team's way. After a year of campaigning, the authority agreed to an "restricted access" restriction between 5pm and 5am from February through to spring. The majority of motorists respected and avoided the route.

Other Wildlife and Difficulties

Several vehicles go past when I'm out on duty and we discover some victims as a consequence – no amphibians, but several crushed salamanders. We spot one living newt as well, and the teenager is particularly pleased to see a harvestman, which dances in his hands. Yet despite the team's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the local population has obviously gone dormant for the winter. It appears that I wouldn't have had any more luck anywhere else in the country – all the patrol groups I reach out to clarify that it's near-impossible 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 made the effort to check for toads in a noted location, considered the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the title: "None found." However, in late winter, he informs me, the group plans to assist approximately ten thousand adult toads over the street.

Impact and Limitations

What level of impact can these groups actually make? "The fact that volunteers are doing this consistently on chilly, wet and miserable evenings is remarkable," says an researcher. "That's something that very much should be celebrated." However, while toad patrols are able to reduce the drop, they cannot prevent it entirely – not least because traffic is just one danger.

Additional Threats

The global warming has resulted in extended spells of drought, which create the poor environment for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as invertebrates, while warmer ponds have led to an rise of toxic plants, which can be toxic to toads. Warmer cold seasons also lead toads to wake up from their dormancy more often, interfering with the energy conservation crucial to their existence. Habitat destruction – especially the loss of big water bodies – is another menace.

Researchers are "often concerned about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on wildlife," but "It's important in just having these animals around." But toads play an important role in the ecosystem, eating almost any invertebrates or small animals they can fit in their mouths and in turn feeding a number of birds and mammals, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving conditions for toads – ie building water habitats, conserving woodland and installing toad tunnels – "benefits for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Historical Significance

Another reason to work to preserve toads present is their "important cultural value," notes an specialist. Legends and tales around toads date back {centuries|hundred