🔗 Share this article

It is Friday evening at 7:30, but instead of heading to the pub or relaxing at home, 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 native amphibian community.

A Worrying Drop in Population

The Bufo bufo is becoming increasingly rare. A recent study led by an amphibian and reptile charity showed that the British common toad numbers have dropped by half since 1985. Seeing a species that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decline is described as "concerning" by experts. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "should be able to live successfully in the majority of habitats in the UK," 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 research didn't cover the reasons for the drop, traffic is a major factor. Calculations suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on UK roads every year – in other words, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which would probably be happy to mate "with just a bucket of water," toads prefer large ponds. Their ability to stay out of water for more time than frogs means they can journey farther to reach them – often hundreds of metres. They usually stick to their traditional paths – it's typical for mature amphibians to return to their natal pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Fittingly, the first toads start their journey for a mate around Valentine's day, but some move as late as April, waiting until it gets dark and moving after sunset. During that period, toads begin migrating from where they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who was raised in the region and has been trying to protect its amphibians since he was a child, notes that "They've got just one focus: to go and mate." If their route happens to a street, they could all get run over, and that breeding season would never happen – preventing a new generation of toads from being born.

Rescue Groups Across the UK

Finding many of toad carcasses on local roads "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has led to the creation of rescue teams throughout the UK – hundreds of organizations are currently registered with a national initiative. These groups collect toads and transport them over streets in buckets, 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 means they can miss groups of toadlets, which, having been eggs and then juveniles, leave their water habitats over an unpredictable schedule in the end of summer. Because of their size – just a couple of cm wide – "they can get obliterated by car traffic." And as being run over "basically turns them into mush," it's harder to collect information on them. At least when mature amphibians are lost, their carcasses can be counted.

Annual Work

Unlike most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of functioning, go out year-round – not nightly, but when weather are damp, or if a member has posted about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on duty, they concede it is "not a toady night" – toad hibernation season has begun and it's been a arid period – but several of the volunteers willingly accept to walk up and down their route with me and see what we can find. "Should anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the patrol manager, indicating her 14-year-old son and the experienced member. We've been out for 120 minutes without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have scaled a barbed wire fence to inspect beneath some wood.

Community Participation

The mother and son joined the patrol a while back. The youngster adores all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his parent started to search for things they could do together to help local wildlife. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the middle-aged small business owner explains – so when the team was seeking a fresh coordinator lately, she decided to step up.

The teenager, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A clip he created, 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 council agreed to an "access-only" rule between evening and morning from February through to April. The majority of motorists duly avoided the route.

Additional Species and Difficulties

A few cars go by when I'm out on duty and we find some casualties as a result – no amphibians, but three squashed newts. We spot one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is especially excited to see a daddy longlegs, which moves in his hands. Yet despite the group's hardest attempts to show me a toad, the native community has clearly settled down for the colder months. It appears that I couldn't have found any better success anywhere else in the country – all the rescue teams I contact clarify that it's very difficult at this season.

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

One email I receive from a different helper, who has kindly taken the trouble to check for toads in a noted location, thought to be the biggest tracked toad group in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the title: "None found." However, in February and March, he informs me, the group plans to assist approximately ten thousand mature amphibians over the street.

Impact and Challenges

How much of a difference can these groups truly achieve? "The fact that people are doing this consistently on chilly, wet and miserable evenings is quite extraordinary," says an expert. "That's something that very much should be celebrated." 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 longer periods of drought, which create the wrong conditions for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as worms and slugs, while warmer ponds have caused an increase of toxic plants, which can be toxic to toads. Milder winters also lead toads to emerge from their hibernation more often, interfering with the energy conservation crucial to their life cycle. Habitat destruction – especially the loss of big water bodies – is an additional threat.

Experts are "often concerned about overemphasizing practical benefits on wildlife," however "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads play an significant part in the food chain, consuming almost any invertebrates or tiny organisms they can fit in their mouths and in turn feeding a number of birds and mammals, such as wildlife. Improving situations for toads – ie creating more ponds, conserving woodland and constructing toad tunnels – "we'll improve them for a wide range of additional wildlife."

Cultural Importance

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