🔗 Share this article

It is Friday evening at 7:30, but rather than going out or relaxing at home, I've caught a train to a town in Wiltshire to join volunteers from a amphibian rescue group. These dedicated individuals sacrifice their evenings to protect the native amphibian community.

An Alarming Decline in Numbers

The common toad is becoming increasingly uncommon. 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 creature that has been a fixture of the UK landscape in decrease is labeled "concerning" by experts. Toads "don't need very particular environments" and "ought to live quite well in the majority of habitats in the UK," meaning if even they are struggling to persist, "it kind of suggests that things are not as they should be."

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

The Danger from Roads

Though the research didn't cover the causes for the drop, traffic is a major factor. Estimates suggest that 20 tons of toads are killed on UK roads annually – that is, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which might be happy to mate "with just a bucket of water," toads prefer big bodies of water. Their ability to stay out of water for more time than frogs means they can journey farther to reach them – often long distances. They tend to follow their traditional paths – it's common for adult toads to return to their natal pond to mate.

Migration Patterns

Appropriately enough, the first toads begin their quest for a mate around Valentine's day, but some move as far as spring, until it gets dark and moving after sunset. During that period, toads start moving from wherever they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who grew up in the region and has been trying to protect its amphibians since he was a boy, explains that "They've got just one focus: to go and have an orgy." If their path crosses a road, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would be lost – preventing a next generation of toads from being produced.

Toad Patrols Throughout the United Kingdom

Finding many of dead toads on local roads "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the formation of rescue teams throughout the UK – 274 groups are currently registered with a countrywide program. These teams collect toads and transport them over streets in containers, as well as counting the number of toads they find and advocating for other safety solutions, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Volunteers usually work during the breeding period, when amphibian movements are more regular. However, this means they can overlook numbers of young toads, which, having existed as eggs and then juveniles, exit their water habitats over an irregular timetable in late summer. Because of their size – just a couple of cm wide – "they are destroyed by car traffic." And as being run over "basically turns them into mush," it's more difficult to collect information on them. At least when mature amphibians are lost, their carcasses can be tallied.

Year-Round Efforts

In contrast to most patrols, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth season of operating, go out year-round – not nightly, but whenever weather are damp, or if someone has reported about a amphibian spotting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on patrol, they admit it is "not a toady night" – 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 search for any toads. "Should anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the group coordinator, pointing to her 14-year-old son 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 check under some logs.

Community Involvement

The mother and son became part of the patrol a year and a half ago. The teenager loves all things wildlife and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his parent started to search for things they could do jointly to help local wildlife. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the middle-aged entrepreneur tells me – so when the team was seeking a new manager recently, she decided to step up.

The youth, too, has been instrumental in the group. A clip he created, urging the municipal authority to block a street through a nature reserve during migration season, influenced the outcome the group's way. After a twelve months of lobbying, the council approved an "restricted access" restriction between evening and morning from late winter through to April. Most drivers respected and avoided the road.

Additional Species and Difficulties

A few vehicles go by when I'm out on patrol and we find some casualties as a consequence – no toads, but three squashed newts. We see one live amphibian as well, and the youngster is especially excited to see a daddy longlegs, which moves in his hands. Yet in spite of the group's best efforts to show me a toad, the local population has clearly settled down for the winter. It appears that I wouldn't have had any better success anywhere else in the nation – all the patrol groups I contact explain that it's very difficult at this season.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

A message I get from a different helper, who has kindly made the effort to check for toads in a famous site, thought to be the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the subject line: "None found." However, in late winter, he informs me, the team expects to help approximately 10,000 adult toads across the road.

Effectiveness and Challenges

How much of a difference can these organizations actually make? "The reality that people are doing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant evenings is quite extraordinary," notes an expert. "This effort that very much deserves recognition." However, while toad patrols are able to reduce the drop, they cannot prevent it entirely – not least because traffic is just one danger.

Other Dangers

The global warming has resulted in longer periods of drought, which cause 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 harmful to toads. Milder winters also lead toads to emerge from their dormancy more often, interfering with the resource preservation vital to their existence. Habitat destruction – particularly the loss of big water bodies – is an additional threat.

Experts are "often concerned about overemphasizing practical benefits on biodiversity," but "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads do have an significant part in the ecosystem, eating almost any small creatures or tiny organisms they can swallow and in turn sustaining a variety of birds and mammals, such as wildlife. Enhancing situations for toads – such as creating more ponds, protecting forests and constructing amphibian passages – "benefits for a whole bunch of other species."

Historical Importance

Another reason to try to keep toads around is their "historical significance," notes an expert. Myths and folklore around toads go back {centuries|hundred