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It's Friday night at half past seven, but instead of going out or relaxing at home, I've taken a train to a market town in Wiltshire to meet up with volunteers from a amphibian rescue group. These committed people give up their evenings to protect the local toad population.

A Worrying Drop in Numbers

The common toad is becoming increasingly rare. A latest research conducted by an wildlife conservation group revealed that the UK toad population have almost halved since the mid-1980s. Seeing a creature that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decline is labeled "concerning" by experts. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "should be able to live quite well in most of areas in the UK," meaning if even they are struggling to persist, "it kind of suggests that things are not as they should be."

The UK toad population has almost halved since 1985

The Danger from Roads

Though the study didn't cover the causes for the decline, traffic is a major factor. Calculations suggest that 20 tons of toads are killed on UK roads annually – that is, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which would probably be happy to mate "with just a bucket of water," toads prefer big bodies of water. Their capacity to stay out of water for more time than frogs means they can travel further to reach them – sometimes hundreds of metres. They usually stick to their traditional paths – it's common for mature amphibians to go back to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Patterns

Fittingly, the initial amphibians begin their quest for a mate around Valentine's day, but others travel as late as spring, until it gets dark and travelling after sunset. During that period, toads start moving from wherever they have been hibernating "all pretty much at the same time."

A local helper, who grew up in the area and has been working to save its amphibians since he was a boy, notes that "Their sole purpose: to go and have an orgy." If their path happens to a road, they could all get run over, and that breeding season would never happen – stopping a next generation of toads from being born.

Rescue Groups Across the UK

Seeing many of dead toads on local roads "resonates deeply with people," and has resulted in the creation of toad patrols across the UK – 274 groups are officially listed with a national initiative. These groups pick up toads and carry them over streets in buckets, as well as recording the quantity of toads they find and lobbying for other protection measures, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Patrols tend to operate during the breeding period, when toad crossings are more regular. However, this means they can miss groups of toadlets, which, having existed as eggs and then tadpoles, leave their ponds over an irregular timetable 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 adult toads are lost, their remains can be counted.

Annual Efforts

In contrast to most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth season of functioning, go out throughout the year – not every night, but whenever weather are warm and wet, 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" – winter dormancy has started and it's been a dry day – but several of the volunteers willingly accept to walk up and down their area with me and search for any toads. "If anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two will spot one," says the group coordinator, pointing to her teenage child and the experienced member. After for two hours without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have climbed over a wire barrier to inspect beneath some wood.

Family Involvement

The mother and son became part of the group a while back. The youngster adores all things nature-related and has an goal to become a environmentalist, so his parent started to look for things they could do together to protect native animals. Now she loves it as much as he does, the middle-aged small business owner tells me – so when the group was seeking a fresh coordinator recently, she volunteered for the role.

The teenager, too, has played an important role in the organization. A video he created, urging the municipal authority to close a street through a protected area during breeding time, influenced the outcome the group's way. After a year of campaigning, the authority approved an "access-only" restriction between 5pm and 5am from February through to April. Most drivers respected and avoided the route.

Additional Species and Difficulties

Several cars go past when I'm out on duty and we find some victims as a consequence – no amphibians, but several crushed salamanders. We spot one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is particularly pleased to see a harvestman, which dances in his palms. Yet in spite of the group's hardest attempts to show me a toad, the native community has obviously settled down for the winter. It seems that I wouldn't have had any more luck anywhere else in the country – all the patrol groups I contact explain that it's very difficult at this time of year.

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

A message I receive from another volunteer, who has generously taken the trouble to look for toads in a famous site, considered the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the title: "No toads." However, in February and March, he tells me, the group plans to assist around ten thousand adult toads over the street.

Effectiveness and Limitations

What level of impact can these organizations actually make? "The fact that people are doing this consistently on chilly, wet and miserable late nights is quite extraordinary," notes an researcher. "That's something that very much should be celebrated." However, while rescue teams are able to reduce the drop, they can't stop it completely – partly since traffic is not the only threat.

Additional Threats

The global warming has resulted in longer periods of dry weather, which create the wrong conditions for some of the creatures that toads consume, such as invertebrates, while higher water temperatures have caused an rise of blue-green algae, which can be toxic to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to wake up from their hibernation more often, interfering with the energy conservation vital to their life cycle. Loss of environment – particularly the disappearance of big water bodies – is an additional threat.

Researchers are "always a bit worried about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on wildlife," however "It's important in just their presence." But toads do have an important role in the food chain, consuming almost any invertebrates or tiny organisms they can swallow and in turn feeding a number of birds and mammals, such as wildlife. Improving situations for toads – ie building water habitats, conserving woodland and installing toad tunnels – "benefits for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Cultural Significance

Another reason to work to preserve toads around is their "historical significance," notes an expert. Legends and tales around toads date back {centuries|hundred