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It's Friday evening at 7:30, but rather than heading to the pub or relaxing at home, I've taken a train to a town in the countryside to meet up with local helpers from a amphibian rescue group. These dedicated individuals give up their nights to safeguard the native amphibian community.

A Worrying Drop in Numbers

The Bufo bufo is becoming increasingly rare. A recent research led by an amphibian and reptile charity showed that the British common toad numbers have dropped by half since the mid-1980s. Observing a creature that has been a fixture of the UK landscape in decline is described as "concerning" by experts. Toads "don't require very particular environments" and "ought to live successfully in most of areas in the UK," meaning if even they are not managing to survive, "it indicates that things are not as they should be."

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

The Danger from Traffic

Though the study didn't examine the causes for the decline, cars is a major factor. Estimates suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are crushed on British roads every year – that is, several hundred thousand. In contrast to frogs, which might be happy to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads prefer big bodies of water. Their capacity to remain away from water for longer than frogs means they can travel further to find them – sometimes hundreds of metres. They tend to stick to their ancestral migration routes – it's common for adult toads to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Migration Habits

Appropriately enough, the first toads start their journey for a mate around Valentine's day, but others travel as late as spring, waiting until it gets dark and travelling after sunset. During that period, toads begin migrating from where they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who was raised in the region and has been trying to protect its amphibians since he was a child, explains that "They've got just one focus: to go and have an orgy." If their path crosses a road, they could all get run over, and that breeding season would never happen – preventing a next generation of toads from being produced.

Toad Patrols Across the UK

Finding many of toad carcasses on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has resulted in the creation of rescue teams throughout the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a national initiative. These teams pick up toads and transport them over streets in buckets, as well as recording the quantity of toads they encounter and lobbying for other protection measures, such as road closures and amphibian passages.

Patrols usually work during the breeding period, when toad crossings are more regular. However, this implies they can miss groups of young toads, which, having been spawn and then juveniles, exit their ponds over an irregular timetable in late summer. Because of their small stature – just a couple of cm wide – "they are destroyed by vehicles." And as being run over "essentially crushes them," it's more difficult to collect information on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their remains can be counted.

Year-Round Efforts

Unlike most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth season of operating, go out year-round – not nightly, but whenever weather are warm and wet, or if someone 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 begun and it's been a dry day – but a few of the volunteers willingly accept to walk up and down their route with me and search for any toads. "Should anyone can find any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the group coordinator, 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 mother and son became part of the patrol a while back. The teenager loves all things wildlife and has an ambition to become a conservationist, so his mother started to search for activities they could do jointly to help local wildlife. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the 41-year-old entrepreneur explains – so when the group was looking for a fresh coordinator lately, she decided to step up.

The teenager, too, has played an important role in the group. A video he made, imploring the municipal authority to block a street through a nature reserve during migration season, swung the decision the group's way. After a twelve months of lobbying, the authority approved an "restricted access" restriction between 5pm and 5am from late winter through to April. The majority of motorists duly avoided the road.

Additional Species and Challenges

A few vehicles go by when I'm out on duty and we find some victims as a consequence – no amphibians, but several crushed salamanders. We spot one living newt as well, and the youngster is especially excited to see a harvestman, which moves in his palms. Yet in spite of the team's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the native community has clearly settled down for the colder months. It appears that I wouldn't have had any better success elsewhere in the country – all the rescue teams I reach out to clarify that it's very difficult at this season.

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

A message I receive from another volunteer, who has generously taken the trouble to look for toads in a noted location, thought to be the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the subject line: "None found." However, in late winter, he informs me, the team plans to assist approximately 10,000 adult toads over the street.

Impact and Challenges

What level of impact can these organizations actually make? "The reality that volunteers are performing this regularly on chilly, wet and miserable evenings is remarkable," says an expert. "That's something that very much deserves recognition." However, while rescue teams are able to reduce the drop, they cannot prevent it entirely – not least because vehicles is not the only threat.

Other Dangers

The climate crisis has meant extended spells of drought, which create the poor environment for some of the animals that toads eat, such as invertebrates, while warmer ponds have caused an rise of blue-green algae, which can be harmful to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to emerge from their hibernation more frequently, interfering with the resource preservation crucial to their life cycle. Loss of environment – particularly the loss of large ponds – is another menace.

Experts 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 play an important role in the food chain, eating almost any invertebrates or tiny organisms they can fit in their mouths and in turn feeding a variety of birds and mammals, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving situations for toads – such as building water habitats, protecting forests and installing toad tunnels – "we'll improve them for a whole bunch of other species."

Historical Importance

An additional motive to work to preserve toads present is their "important cultural value," adds an expert. Myths and folklore around toads date back {centuries|hundred