🔗 Share this article

It's Friday evening at half past seven, but rather than heading to the pub or relaxing at home, I've caught a train to a town in Wiltshire to join volunteers from a toad patrol. These committed people sacrifice their evenings to safeguard the native amphibian community.

An Alarming Drop in Numbers

The common toad is becoming increasingly rare. A recent study conducted by an amphibian and reptile charity showed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since the mid-1980s. Observing a creature that has been a fixture of the UK landscape in decrease is labeled "concerning" by researchers. Toads "don't need very particular environments" and "should be able to live quite well 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."

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

The Threat from Traffic

Though the research didn't cover the reasons for the decline, cars is a major factor. Calculations indicate that 20 tons of toads are killed on British roads every year – that is, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which might be content to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads prefer large ponds. Their capacity to stay out of water for more time than frogs allows they can travel further to reach them – sometimes long distances. They usually follow their traditional paths – it's typical for adult toads to return to their natal pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Fittingly, the first toads begin their quest for a mate around Valentine's day, but others travel as late as April, until it gets night and moving through the night. During that period, toads start moving from wherever 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 child, explains that "They've got just one focus: to go and have an orgy." If their route happens to a street, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would be lost – stopping a next generation of toads from being born.

Toad Patrols Throughout the UK

Seeing many of toad carcasses on local roads "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has led to the formation of rescue teams across the UK – 274 groups are officially listed with a national initiative. These groups pick up toads and carry them over streets in containers, as well as recording the number of toads they find and advocating for other protection measures, such as road closures and amphibian passages.

Volunteers usually work during the migration season, when toad crossings are more regular. However, this implies they can overlook numbers of toadlets, which, having been spawn and then juveniles, leave their ponds over an irregular timetable 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 harder to collect information on them. At least when adult toads are killed, their carcasses can be counted.

Year-Round Work

In contrast to most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth year of functioning, go out year-round – not nightly, but whenever 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 admit it is "not a toady night" – winter dormancy has started and it's been a arid period – but several of the volunteers willingly accept to walk up and down their area with me and search for any toads. "Should anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two will spot one," says the patrol manager, pointing to her teenage child and the longtime volunteer. After for two hours without a single toad sighting, and now they have climbed over a wire barrier to inspect beneath some wood.

Community Participation

The mother and son became part of the group a year and a half ago. The youngster loves all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a conservationist, so his parent started to search for activities they could do jointly to protect local wildlife. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the middle-aged small business owner tells me – so when the team 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, urging the municipal authority to close a street through a nature reserve during breeding time, swung the decision the group's way. After a year of campaigning, the council agreed to an "access-only" restriction between 5pm and 5am from February through to April. The majority of motorists respected and avoided the route.

Other Wildlife and Difficulties

A few cars go past when I'm out on duty and we discover some casualties as a result – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We spot 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 obviously settled down for the colder months. It appears that I wouldn't have had any more luck elsewhere in the country – all the patrol groups I contact clarify that it's very difficult at this time of year.

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

One email I receive from another volunteer, who has generously made the effort to check for toads in a noted location, thought to be the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, reaches me with the title: "No toads." However, in late winter, he tells me, the team plans to assist around ten thousand mature amphibians over the street.

Impact and Limitations

How much of a difference can these groups actually make? "The fact that people are doing this consistently on cold, damp and unpleasant evenings is remarkable," notes an researcher. "That's something that very much deserves recognition." However, while rescue teams are able to reduce the drop, they cannot prevent it entirely – partly since vehicles is just one danger.

Other Dangers

The climate crisis has resulted in extended spells of drought, which create the wrong conditions for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as invertebrates, while higher water temperatures have caused an rise of toxic plants, which can be harmful to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to wake up from their hibernation more frequently, disrupting the resource preservation vital to their life cycle. Habitat destruction – especially the disappearance of big water bodies – is another menace.

Researchers are "often concerned about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," however "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads play an important role in the food chain, consuming almost any small creatures or small animals they can swallow and in turn feeding a number of birds and mammals, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving situations for toads – such as creating more ponds, conserving woodland and constructing amphibian passages – "we'll improve them for a wide range of additional wildlife."

Historical Importance

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