🔗 Share this article

It's Friday night at half past seven, but rather than heading to the pub or relaxing at home, I've caught a train to a town in the countryside to join volunteers from a amphibian rescue group. These dedicated individuals sacrifice their evenings to safeguard the local toad population.

A Worrying Drop in Population

The common toad is growing more rare. A recent study led by an amphibian and reptile charity showed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since 1985. Seeing a creature that has been a stalwart of the British countryside in decrease is labeled "worrying" by researchers. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "should be able to live successfully in the majority of habitats in Britain," so if even they are not managing to survive, "it kind of suggests that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

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

The Danger from Traffic

Though the research didn't cover the reasons for the decline, cars is a major factor. Calculations indicate that 20 tons of toads are killed on British roads annually – in other words, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which would probably be happy to mate "with just a bucket of water," toads prefer large ponds. Their capacity to stay out of water for longer than frogs means they can travel further to find them – often hundreds of metres. They usually stick to their traditional paths – it's common for adult toads to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Breeding Habits

Appropriately enough, the first toads start their journey for a mate around February 14th, but some move as late as spring, waiting until it gets dark and travelling after sunset. During that time, toads start moving from wherever they have been overwintering "all pretty much at the same time."

A local helper, who was raised in the area and has been trying to protect its toad population since he was a child, notes that "Their sole purpose: to go and mate." If their path happens to a road, they could all get run over, and that breeding season would never happen – preventing a new generation of toads from being produced.

Rescue Groups Across the United Kingdom

Finding many of dead toads on local roads "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has resulted in the formation 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 counting the quantity of toads they encounter and lobbying for other safety solutions, such as road closures and amphibian passages.

Patrols tend to operate during the breeding period, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this means they can miss numbers of toadlets, which, having been spawn and then tadpoles, exit their ponds over an unpredictable schedule in late summer. Because of their small stature – just a couple of cm wide – "they can get obliterated by vehicles." And as being hit "basically turns them into mush," it's more difficult to get data on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their remains can be counted.

Annual Work

In contrast to most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth season of operating, go out throughout the year – not every night, but whenever weather are damp, or if a member has reported about a amphibian spotting in their messaging app. When I request to accompany them on patrol, they admit it is "not ideal conditions" – winter dormancy has begun and it's been a dry day – but several of the helpers willingly accept to walk up and down their area with me and see what we can find. "If anyone can find any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the patrol manager, indicating her teenage child and the longtime volunteer. After for 120 minutes without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have climbed over a barbed wire fence to check under some wood.

Community Participation

The mother and son became part of the group a while back. The youngster loves all things nature-related and has an goal to become a environmentalist, so his mother started to search for activities they could do together to help native animals. Now she loves it as much as he does, the middle-aged small business owner explains – so when the team was seeking a new manager recently, she decided to step up.

The youth, too, has played an important role in the group. A clip he created, urging the local council to block a road through a nature reserve during breeding time, swung the decision the group's way. After a year of campaigning, the council 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

Several cars go by when I'm out on duty and we discover some casualties as a result – no amphibians, but several crushed salamanders. We see one living newt as well, and the teenager is especially excited to see a harvestman, which dances in his hands. Yet despite the group's best efforts to show me a toad, the native community has clearly settled down for the winter. It seems that I wouldn't have had any better success anywhere else in the country – all the patrol groups I contact clarify that it's near-impossible at this time of year.

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

A message I get from a different helper, who has generously made the effort to look for toads in a noted location, considered the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, reaches me with the title: "None found." However, in late winter, he informs me, the team plans to assist around 10,000 mature amphibians across the road.

Impact and Challenges

How much of a difference can these organizations truly achieve? "The fact that volunteers are performing this consistently on chilly, wet and miserable evenings is quite extraordinary," notes an researcher. "This effort that very much should be celebrated." However, while toad patrols are able to reduce the drop, they cannot prevent it entirely – not least because traffic is just one danger.

Additional Threats

The climate crisis has meant longer periods of drought, which cause the wrong conditions for some of the animals that toads consume, such as worms and slugs, while higher water temperatures have caused an increase of blue-green algae, which can be toxic to toads. Warmer cold seasons also lead toads to emerge from their dormancy more frequently, disrupting the energy conservation crucial to their life cycle. Habitat destruction – especially the loss of large ponds – is another menace.

Researchers are "always a bit worried about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on wildlife," but "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads do have an important role in the ecosystem, consuming almost any invertebrates or small animals they can swallow and in turn sustaining a number of predators, such as wildlife. Enhancing situations for toads – such as building water habitats, protecting forests and installing amphibian passages – "benefits for a whole bunch of other species."

Cultural Significance

Another reason to try to keep toads present is their "important cultural value," adds an expert. Legends and tales around toads go back {centuries|hundred