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It is Friday evening at 7:30, but rather than going out or watching a film, I've taken a train to a town in Wiltshire to join volunteers from a amphibian rescue group. These committed people sacrifice their nights to safeguard the native amphibian community.

A Worrying Decline in Numbers

The common toad is growing more rare. A latest study led by an wildlife conservation group revealed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since 1985. Observing a creature that has been a fixture of the UK landscape in decline is described as "worrying" by experts. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "should be able to live successfully in most of habitats in Britain," so 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 Traffic

Though the research didn't examine the causes for the decline, traffic certainly plays a part. Calculations suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on British roads annually – in other words, several hundred thousand. In contrast to frogs, which might be happy to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads favor large ponds. Their capacity to stay out of water for longer than frogs means they can journey farther to find them – often long distances. They usually stick to their traditional paths – it's common for adult toads to return to their natal pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Appropriately enough, the initial amphibians start their journey for a mate around Valentine's day, but some move as late as spring, waiting until it gets night and travelling after sunset. During that period, toads start moving from where they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who was raised in the area and has been working to save its amphibians since he was a boy, notes that "Their sole purpose: to go and mate." If their route crosses a road, they could be killed by traffic, and that mating period would never happen – stopping a next generation of toads from being produced.

Toad Patrols Across the United Kingdom

Seeing many of dead toads on nearby streets "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has led to the formation of toad patrols throughout the UK – 274 groups are officially listed with a countrywide program. These groups collect toads and transport them over streets in containers, as well as recording the number of toads they find and lobbying for other safety solutions, such as road closures and underground wildlife tunnels.

Volunteers tend to operate during the breeding period, when amphibian movements are more regular. However, this means they can overlook numbers of toadlets, which, having been spawn and then juveniles, leave their ponds over an unpredictable schedule in the end of summer. Because of their small stature – just a couple of cm wide – "they are destroyed by car traffic." And as being hit "basically turns them into mush," it's harder to collect information on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their carcasses can be counted.

Annual Work

Unlike many groups, one local team, who are in their eighth year of operating, go out throughout the year – not every night, but whenever weather are warm and wet, or if a member has reported about a toad sighting in their group chat. 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 several of the volunteers willingly accept to patrol their area with me and see what we can find. "If anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the group coordinator, indicating her 14-year-old son and the experienced member. After for 120 minutes without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have scaled a wire barrier to inspect beneath some wood.

Community Involvement

The family duo joined the patrol a year and a half ago. The teenager loves all things wildlife and has an ambition to become a conservationist, so his parent started to look for activities they could do together to help native animals. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the 41-year-old entrepreneur tells me – so when the team was seeking a new manager recently, she volunteered for the role.

The youth, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A video he created, urging the local council to close a street through a nature reserve 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 late winter through to April. The majority of motorists duly avoided the road.

Additional Species and Difficulties

A few vehicles go past when I'm out on patrol and we find some casualties as a result – 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 hands. Yet in spite of the group's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the native community has obviously gone dormant for the colder months. It appears that I wouldn't have had any more luck anywhere else in the nation – all the rescue teams I contact clarify that it's very difficult at this time of year.

The group expects to help approximately 10,000 adult toads across the road

One email I get from another volunteer, who has kindly made the effort to check for toads in a famous site, considered the largest accurately monitored toad population in the UK, reaches me with the title: "None found." However, in February and March, he informs me, the team expects to help approximately ten thousand mature amphibians across the road.

Effectiveness and Limitations

What level of impact can these organizations truly achieve? "The fact that people are doing this consistently 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 can't stop it completely – not least because vehicles is just one danger.

Additional Threats

The global warming has meant longer periods of dry weather, which create the wrong conditions for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as invertebrates, while higher water temperatures have caused an increase of blue-green algae, which can be toxic to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to emerge from their dormancy more often, interfering with the energy conservation vital to their existence. Loss of environment – particularly the loss of big water bodies – is an additional threat.

Experts are "often concerned about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on wildlife," however "It's important in just their presence." But toads play an significant part in the ecosystem, eating almost any small creatures or tiny organisms they can fit in their mouths and in turn feeding a number of birds and mammals, such as wildlife. Enhancing conditions for toads – ie building water habitats, conserving woodland and installing toad tunnels – "benefits for a whole bunch of other species."

Cultural Importance

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