🔗 Share this article

It is a Friday night at 7:30, but instead of going out or watching a film, I've caught a train to a town in Wiltshire to join local helpers from a toad patrol. These committed people sacrifice their evenings to safeguard the native amphibian community.

An Alarming Decline in Numbers

The common toad is becoming increasingly rare. A recent research led by an amphibian and reptile charity revealed that the British common toad numbers have dropped by half since the mid-1980s. Seeing a species that has been a fixture of the UK landscape in decrease is described as "concerning" by experts. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "should be able to live quite well in most of habitats in the UK," meaning if even they are not managing to survive, "it indicates that things are not as they should be."

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

The Threat from Traffic

Though the research didn't cover the reasons for the drop, cars is a major factor. Calculations suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on British roads every year – in other words, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which would probably be happy to mate "with just a small container," toads favor large ponds. Their ability to stay out of water for longer than frogs allows they can journey farther to reach them – sometimes long distances. They usually stick to their ancestral migration routes – it's typical for adult toads to go back to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Patterns

Appropriately enough, the first toads begin their quest for a mate around Valentine's day, but some move as late as April, waiting until it gets dark and travelling through the night. During that period, toads start moving from wherever they have been hibernating "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who grew up in the region and has been trying to protect its amphibians since he was a child, notes that "Their sole purpose: to go and mate." If their path crosses a road, they could all get run over, and that breeding season would be lost – stopping a next generation of toads from being produced.

Rescue Groups Across the UK

Seeing hundreds of dead toads on nearby streets "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has led to the creation of toad patrols throughout the UK – hundreds of organizations are currently registered with a national initiative. These groups collect toads and transport them over streets in containers, as well as counting the number of toads they encounter and advocating for other safety solutions, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Patrols usually work during the breeding period, when amphibian movements are more regular. However, this means they can miss numbers of young toads, which, having existed as spawn and then tadpoles, exit their ponds over an irregular timetable in late summer. Because of their small stature – just a couple of cm wide – "they can get obliterated by car traffic." And as being hit "basically turns them into mush," it's harder to get data on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their remains can be tallied.

Year-Round Efforts

Unlike most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of operating, go out throughout the year – not nightly, but when weather are damp, or if a member has posted about a amphibian spotting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on patrol, they admit it is "not ideal conditions" – toad hibernation season has started and it's been a arid period – but several of the helpers gamely agree to patrol their route with me and see what we can find. "If anyone can find any toads tonight, that pair will spot one," says the patrol manager, pointing to her 14-year-old son and the experienced member. After for two hours without a single toad sighting, and now they have scaled a barbed wire fence to inspect beneath some logs.

Community Involvement

The family duo joined the group a year and a half ago. The youngster loves all things nature-related and has an goal to become a conservationist, so his parent started to search for things they could do together to help native animals. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the middle-aged entrepreneur tells me – so when the group was looking for a fresh coordinator lately, she decided to step up.

The youth, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A video he made, urging the municipal authority to block a street through a protected area during breeding time, swung the decision the group's way. After a year of lobbying, the authority agreed to an "access-only" restriction between 5pm and 5am from February through to April. The majority of motorists respected and avoided the route.

Additional Species and Difficulties

Several vehicles go past when I'm out on patrol and we discover some casualties as a consequence – no toads, but three squashed newts. We see one live amphibian 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 show me a toad, the native community has clearly gone dormant for the winter. It seems that I wouldn't have had any more luck elsewhere in the nation – all the rescue teams I reach out to explain that it's very difficult at this time of year.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

A message I receive from a different helper, who has generously taken the trouble to look for toads in a noted location, thought to be the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the subject line: "None found." However, in February and March, he tells me, the team expects to help around ten thousand adult toads over the street.

Impact and Limitations

What level of impact can these groups truly achieve? "The fact that volunteers are doing this consistently on chilly, wet and miserable late nights is remarkable," notes an expert. "This effort that very much should be celebrated." However, while rescue teams are able to reduce the drop, they can't stop it completely – not least because traffic is just one danger.

Additional Threats

The global warming has resulted in extended spells of dry weather, which create the wrong conditions for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as worms and slugs, while higher water temperatures have led to an increase of blue-green algae, which can be harmful to toads. Warmer cold seasons also lead toads to wake up from their dormancy more frequently, disrupting the resource preservation vital to their existence. Habitat destruction – especially the loss of large ponds – is an additional threat.

Experts are "often concerned about overemphasizing practical benefits on wildlife," however "It's important in just their presence." But toads play an significant part in the food chain, eating almost any small creatures or small animals they can fit in their mouths and in turn feeding a number of birds and mammals, such as wildlife. Improving situations for toads – such as creating more ponds, protecting forests and constructing amphibian passages – "benefits for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Historical Importance

An additional motive to work to preserve toads around is their "important cultural value," adds an specialist. Legends and tales around toads date back {centuries|hundred