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It is a Friday night at half past seven, but rather than heading to the pub or watching a film, I've caught a train to a town in Wiltshire to join volunteers from a amphibian rescue group. These committed people sacrifice their nights to safeguard the native amphibian community.

An Alarming Drop in Numbers

The common toad is growing more uncommon. A recent research led by an wildlife conservation group revealed that the UK toad population have almost halved since 1985. Observing a species that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decline is labeled "worrying" by researchers. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" 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 examine the reasons for the decline, cars certainly plays a part. Estimates suggest that 20 tons of toads are killed on UK roads annually – in other words, several hundred thousand. In contrast to frogs, which might be happy to mate "if you left out a small container," toads prefer big bodies of water. Their ability to remain away from water for more time than frogs allows they can travel further to find them – often hundreds of metres. They tend to stick to their ancestral migration routes – it's common for adult toads to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Migration Patterns

Appropriately enough, the first toads begin their quest for a mate around February 14th, but some move as late as spring, until it gets dark and moving after sunset. During that period, toads start moving from wherever they have been overwintering "all pretty much at the same time."

A local helper, who was raised in the area and has been working to save its amphibians since he was a boy, explains that "They've got just one focus: to go and have an orgy." If their path happens to a street, they could all get run over, and that breeding season would be lost – stopping a next generation of toads from being born.

Toad Patrols Throughout the United Kingdom

Finding hundreds of dead toads on nearby streets "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 groups collect toads and transport them across roads in containers, as well as counting the number of toads they find and advocating for other protection measures, such as road closures and amphibian passages.

Patrols tend to operate during the breeding period, when amphibian movements are frequent. However, this implies they can miss groups of toadlets, which, having existed as spawn and then tadpoles, leave their ponds over an irregular timetable in the end of summer. Because of their small stature – just one or two centimetres wide – "they are destroyed by vehicles." And as being run over "essentially crushes them," it's more difficult to collect information on them. At least when adult toads are killed, their remains can be counted.

Annual 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 conditions are warm and wet, or if someone has reported about a amphibian spotting in their group chat. When I ask to join them on duty, they admit it is "not ideal conditions" – winter dormancy has started and it's been a arid period – but a few of the helpers gamely agree to patrol their route with me and see what we can find. "Should anyone can locate any toads tonight, that pair will spot one," says the patrol manager, indicating her 14-year-old son and the experienced member. We've been out for two hours without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have scaled a barbed wire fence to inspect beneath some wood.

Community Involvement

The mother and son joined 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 search for activities they could do jointly 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 new manager recently, she volunteered for the role.

The teenager, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A video he created, urging the municipal authority to block a road through a protected area during migration season, swung the decision the group's way. After a year of lobbying, the council approved an "restricted access" restriction between evening and morning from February through to spring. Most drivers respected and avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Challenges

A few vehicles go past 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 teenager is especially excited to see a daddy longlegs, which moves in his palms. Yet in spite of the team's best efforts to show me a toad, the native community has obviously gone dormant for the colder months. It appears that I wouldn't have had any more luck anywhere else in the nation – all the rescue teams 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

A message I get from another volunteer, who has kindly taken the trouble to check for toads in a famous site, thought to be the biggest tracked toad group in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the subject line: "No toads." However, in February and March, he tells me, the team expects to help around 10,000 adult toads over the street.

Effectiveness and Limitations

What level of impact can these groups actually make? "The fact that volunteers are doing this consistently on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is remarkable," notes an expert. "This effort that very much deserves recognition." However, while rescue teams are able to slow the decline, they can't stop it completely – not least because traffic is not the only threat.

Additional Threats

The global warming has resulted in longer periods of dry weather, which create the poor environment for some of the animals that toads eat, such as worms and slugs, while warmer ponds have led to an rise of blue-green algae, which can be toxic to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to emerge from their dormancy more often, interfering with the energy conservation vital to their existence. Loss of environment – especially the disappearance of large ponds – is an additional threat.

Experts are "often concerned about overemphasizing practical benefits on biodiversity," but "There is a big value in just having these animals around." But toads play an significant part in the ecosystem, consuming pretty much any invertebrates or small animals they can fit in their mouths and in turn feeding a variety of birds and mammals, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing conditions for toads – ie building water habitats, protecting forests and constructing amphibian passages – "benefits for a whole bunch of other species."

Cultural Importance

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