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Newt or Salamander?

Fifibutton

Wise Old Thumper
I found this wee man under Merri's litter tray today. He must have sneaked in when I was cleaning the run. Isn't he cute?


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Aw how lovely! :love:

No idea as to identity - but I'd guess a newt. Lucky you as they are now sadly very rare.

Do you have a wildlife pond then? :D

If you do I'd love to see pics... we're hoping to dig one out soon-ish.
 
Aw how lovely! :love:

No idea as to identity - but I'd guess a newt. Lucky you as they are now sadly very rare.

Do you have a wildlife pond then? :D

If you do I'd love to see pics... we're hoping to dig one out soon-ish.

I think she's a young female great crested newt...

We used to have loads in local ponds near us when I was little, sadly they are rare now. It is actually illegal to handle them or catch them without a licence.

Lovely little creatures :love:
 
I had two of these in the kennel, I thought it was a liazard and had to get my Dad to get them out. He put them by the neighbours garden who as a pond.
 
I think she's a young female great crested newt...

We used to have loads in local ponds near us when I was little, sadly they are rare now. It is actually illegal to handle them or catch them without a licence.

Lovely little creatures :love:

Oh dear, I didn't know that. He was in the bunny run and I wanted to put him to safety. I have a river behind my garden and am always finding toads and frogs and the odd lizard. I released him back by the river and he disappeared pretty quickly.
 
Oh dear, I didn't know that. He was in the bunny run and I wanted to put him to safety. I have a river behind my garden and am always finding toads and frogs and the odd lizard. I released him back by the river and he disappeared pretty quickly.


I don't think that's illegal :lol:

I think it's just illegal to catch them and keep them. :) Glad he got away safely.
When I was very little we used to catch them, keep them for a couple of days in a tank and then let them go :oops: had no idea it was wrong.
 
I think it is probably a male smooth newt, you can still see a pattern along its back, like waves. Male smooth newts have a small crest during breeding season, but it then gets shed with the skin. It also falls flat onto the back when they are out of the water. The belly gets more orange and spotty during breeding season, too.
At this time of year they are mostly outside the water and looking for food at night. The little newtlets have hatched, they are very sweet creatures. I have not seen any newtlet in our pond this year, yet, but two of the newts I saw had very big tummies, full of eggs, so I assume that there are a few newtlets which have hatched and managed to escape the fish.
 
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