🔗 Share this article

It's Friday evening at half past seven, but rather than heading to the pub or relaxing at home, I've taken a train to a town in the countryside to join local helpers from a amphibian rescue group. These committed people sacrifice their evenings to safeguard the native amphibian community.

A Worrying Decline in Numbers

The common toad is growing more uncommon. A latest research led by an wildlife conservation group showed that the British common toad numbers have dropped by half since the mid-1980s. Observing a creature that has been a stalwart of the British countryside in decline is described as "concerning" by experts. Toads "don't require very particular environments" and "should be able to live quite well in the majority of areas in Britain," meaning if even they are not managing to survive, "it kind of suggests that things are not as they should be."

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

The Danger from Roads

Though the research didn't examine the causes for the decline, cars is a major factor. Calculations indicate that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on UK roads annually – that is, several hundred thousand. In contrast to frogs, which might be happy to mate "with just a bucket of water," toads favor big bodies of water. Their ability to stay out of water for longer than frogs allows they can journey farther to find them – often long distances. They usually follow their ancestral migration routes – it's common for adult toads to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Fittingly, the first toads start their journey for a mate around Valentine's day, but others travel as late as April, waiting until it gets dark and moving through the night. During that period, toads start moving from wherever they have been overwintering "all pretty much at the same time."

A local helper, who was raised in the region and has been working to save its amphibians since he was a child, explains that "Their sole purpose: to go and mate." If their route crosses a street, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would be lost – preventing a next generation of toads from being born.

Rescue Groups Throughout the UK

Finding many of dead toads on local roads "resonates deeply with people," and has resulted in the formation of rescue teams throughout the UK – hundreds of organizations are currently registered with a countrywide program. These groups collect toads and transport them over streets in buckets, as well as counting the quantity of toads they encounter and lobbying for other safety solutions, such as blocked roads and underground wildlife tunnels.

Volunteers tend to operate during the breeding period, when toad crossings are more regular. However, this implies they can overlook numbers of young toads, which, having been eggs and then juveniles, leave their ponds over an irregular timetable in the end of summer. Because of their size – just one or two centimetres wide – "they can get obliterated by car traffic." And as being hit "essentially crushes them," it's harder to collect information on them. At least when adult toads are killed, their remains can be tallied.

Year-Round Work

Unlike most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth year of operating, go out year-round – not every night, but whenever conditions are warm and wet, or if a member has reported about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I request to accompany them on duty, they admit it is "not a toady night" – winter dormancy has started and it's been a dry day – but several of the helpers gamely agree to walk up and down their area with me and see what we can find. "If anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the patrol manager, pointing to her 14-year-old son and the experienced member. We've been out for 120 minutes without a single toad sighting, and now they have scaled a wire barrier to check under some wood.

Family Participation

The family duo became part of the group a while back. The youngster adores all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a conservationist, so his mother started to look for things they could do jointly to protect local wildlife. Now she loves it as much as he does, the middle-aged small business owner explains – so when the group was seeking a new manager lately, she volunteered for the role.

The teenager, too, has been instrumental in the group. A clip he made, imploring the local council to close a street through a protected area during migration season, swung the decision the group's way. After a year of lobbying, the council approved an "restricted access" restriction between evening and morning from late winter through to spring. The majority of motorists duly avoided the route.

Additional Species and Difficulties

A few cars go by when I'm out on patrol and we find some casualties as a consequence – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We see one living newt as well, and the youngster is particularly pleased to see a harvestman, which moves in his hands. Yet in spite of the team's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the native community has clearly settled down for the winter. It seems that I couldn't have found any more luck elsewhere in the nation – all the rescue teams I contact clarify that it's very difficult at this season.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

A message I receive from another volunteer, who has kindly made the effort to look for toads in a noted location, considered the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, reaches me with the title: "No toads." However, in February and March, he informs me, the team expects to help around 10,000 mature amphibians over the street.

Impact and Limitations

What level of impact can these organizations truly achieve? "The fact that people are doing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant evenings is remarkable," notes an expert. "This effort that very much should be celebrated." However, while toad patrols 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 extended spells of dry weather, which cause the wrong conditions for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as worms and slugs, while higher water temperatures 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 resource preservation crucial to their life cycle. Loss of environment – particularly the disappearance of big water bodies – is an additional threat.

Experts are "often concerned about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," however "It's important in just having these animals around." But toads play an significant part in the ecosystem, consuming pretty much any invertebrates or small animals they can swallow and in turn feeding a number of predators, such as wildlife. Improving situations for toads – ie creating more ponds, conserving woodland and constructing toad tunnels – "benefits for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Cultural Significance

An additional motive to work to preserve toads present is their "historical significance," notes an expert. Myths and folklore around toads date back {centuries|hundred