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It's Friday night at half past seven, but rather than heading to the pub or watching a film, I've caught a train to a market town in the countryside to meet up with volunteers from a amphibian rescue group. These dedicated individuals give up their nights to protect the local toad population.

A Worrying Drop in Population

The Bufo bufo is growing more uncommon. A latest study conducted by an wildlife conservation group showed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since 1985. Observing a species that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decrease is described as "concerning" by experts. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "ought to live quite well in most of habitats in Britain," meaning if even they are struggling to persist, "it indicates that things are not as they should be."

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

The Threat from Roads

Though the study didn't cover the reasons for the drop, cars certainly plays a part. Calculations indicate that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on British roads annually – in other words, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which might be content to mate "if you left out a small container," toads favor large ponds. Their capacity to remain away from water for more time than frogs allows they can journey farther to find them – often long distances. 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 Habits

Appropriately enough, the first toads begin their quest for a mate around Valentine's day, but others travel as far as spring, until it gets dark and moving after sunset. During that time, toads begin migrating from where they have been overwintering "all pretty much at the same time."

A local helper, who was raised in the region and has been trying to protect its amphibians 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 mating period would be lost – preventing a new generation of toads from being born.

Rescue Groups Across the United Kingdom

Finding hundreds of toad carcasses on local roads "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the creation of toad patrols across the UK – hundreds of organizations are currently registered with a countrywide program. These teams pick up toads and carry them over streets in buckets, as well as counting the quantity of toads they find and lobbying for other protection measures, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Patrols usually work during the migration season, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this implies they can miss numbers of young toads, which, having been eggs and then tadpoles, exit their ponds over an unpredictable schedule in the end of summer. Because of their small stature – just a couple of cm wide – "they can get obliterated by car traffic." 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 counted.

Annual Work

Unlike many groups, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth year of operating, go out year-round – not nightly, but when weather are damp, or if someone has posted about a amphibian spotting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on patrol, they concede it is "not a toady night" – toad hibernation season has started and it's been a arid period – but a few of the helpers gamely agree to patrol their area with me and see what we can find. "If anyone can locate any toads tonight, that pair will spot one," says the group coordinator, pointing to her teenage child and the longtime volunteer. We've been out for two hours without a single toad sighting, and now they have scaled a barbed wire fence to inspect beneath some wood.

Family Involvement

The family duo joined the patrol a while back. The teenager loves all things wildlife and has an goal to become a environmentalist, so his parent started to look for activities they could do jointly to protect local wildlife. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the 41-year-old small business owner explains – so when the team was looking for a fresh coordinator lately, she decided to step up.

The youth, too, has played an important role in the organization. A video he created, imploring the local council to close a street through a nature reserve during migration season, influenced the outcome the team's way. After a year of campaigning, the council agreed to an "access-only" rule between 5pm and 5am from February through to April. Most drivers duly avoided the road.

Other Wildlife and Challenges

A few vehicles go by when I'm out on patrol and we find some victims as a consequence – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We spot one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is especially excited to see a harvestman, which dances in his hands. Yet in spite of the group's best efforts to let me see a toad, the local population has clearly settled down for the colder months. It appears that I wouldn't have had any better success anywhere else in the country – all the rescue teams I contact explain that it's near-impossible at this season.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

A message I receive from another volunteer, who has generously made the effort to check for toads in a famous site, considered the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, reaches me with the subject line: "None found." However, in February and March, he tells me, the group expects to help around ten thousand mature amphibians across the road.

Effectiveness and Challenges

How much of a difference can these organizations actually make? "The fact that people are performing this consistently on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is remarkable," says an expert. "This effort that very much should be celebrated." However, while toad patrols are able to reduce the drop, they cannot prevent it entirely – partly since traffic is just one danger.

Additional Threats

The global warming has resulted in longer periods of drought, which cause the poor environment for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as worms and slugs, while warmer ponds have led to an rise of blue-green algae, which can be harmful to toads. Warmer cold seasons also lead toads to emerge from their hibernation more often, disrupting the energy conservation vital to their life cycle. Habitat destruction – especially the loss of large ponds – is another menace.

Researchers are "often concerned about overemphasizing practical benefits on biodiversity," but "It's important in just having these animals around." But toads do have an important role in the ecosystem, consuming pretty much any invertebrates or small animals they can swallow and in turn sustaining a variety of birds and mammals, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing situations for toads – such as building water habitats, protecting forests and installing toad tunnels – "we'll improve them for a wide range of other species."

Cultural Significance

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