What is it

my niece forund it in her garden and askes what is it befor she goes out and buys a double barrle shotgun lol

 

Its a Smooth Newt, probably a female, but you would have to turn it over to see if there are any black spots and a pale yellow belly., your very lucky.:thumb:

Dont forget, they are a protected species. On land they eat insects and slugs...so the more the merrier.

When I had my wildlife pond at my last house, we had loads of them.

 

I have found a newt in my garden recently - we have no pond so I am not sure what it was doing there!

 

Depending on the species, most of the newts in this country only take to the water, ie ponds, slow moving brooks or streams (on floating plant life to lay their eggs) to breed.

Outside of the breeding season which can last from Feb to June/July, they live in marshes, damp areas etc. You will often find them under large stones etc, where the earth is damp.

So thar ya go.:thumb:

Also, if you must handle them, do so with care, as their skin is toxic and can kill if you ingest one. Crested newts are not allowed to be handled at all....it is against the law. Unless you have a license.

 

Tweaks I think it's a female greater crested.

 

You could well be right Walnut, I would need to see it in the flesh so to speak.:thumb:

 

Lets hope Jimbo's niece doesn't shoot it in the meantime.:eek:

 

Get a lot of little newts in my garden, they're really cute. I have big ponds in both the front and back garden so I think they like it around here :D

 

I think there is no greater satisfaction than encouraging wild life in your garden, the more the merrier. I remember being ever so proud of becoming a daddy to loads of tadpoles for the first time after I had built my pond.

And the following photo...I was dead chuffed...do you know what it is? I do of course.

 

Looks like Dragonfly larva to me. Do you get the really massive ones around your pond? I love those, except my cats always bringing them to me!

 

Correct,

 

Correct, Dragon Fly Lava..or empty skin.

I don't have a pond at the moment, gotta build a new one. That's my next project.

 

Ahh! They're an effort to build but the payoff is so great, especially when, like you said, the wildlife starts to move in

 

Aaahhh its cute great pic too

 

We have newts too. We think they made their way into our pond from our neighbours several years ago and they are very welcome.

We've had babies - well, the newts have :D - for the past 3 or 4 years, so they all obviously love it in our pond and garden.

Nice shot, Jimbo. We discovered some of the same kind a couple of months ago, and I was very annoyed when none of the photos turned out clearly. It was the first time we had seen the spotted ones in our garden - and there were 3 of them!

Two years ago, a blackbird specialized in catching and eating them. It upset me no end and if I saw it, I would run out and try to scare the bird off.

We have those dragonfly larvae too.