Total garden surprise

[John]

I was cleaning out a bit of Blanket weed about 4pm today. Suddenly one of the handfulls I grabbed wriggled. At first I thought large worm but once I had unravelled it I saw that I had a newt in my hand. I didn't even know I had them in the pool.

The thing is I haven't a clue about Newts. The last one I ever saw was possibly about 50+ years ago. Can anyone confirm what Newt it is please.

John

[nightshade]

Looks like a smooth newt to me,but I do get confused I find it easier to tell when they are in a tank or jar of water so you can see top and bottom more easily

[Mark43]

Yes it looks like a Smooth..........don't the other 2 have flared tails?

[nightshade]

Yes they both flare behind the hips,but in breeding kit the smooth gets quite a spotted flank,and out of the water the flare is sometimes not so obvious

[Fourwings]

Yep, thats a Smooth Newt,thats a nice find john, even this species is not as widespread as it was a few years ago.

[Alan]

What a nice suprise for you John, it looks like a female smooth newt, and a nice big one at that. The males are usually a little smaller with a large crest that runs from the neck to tip of tail. The males are also much spottier that the planer females, and have an orange spotty belly. Look after them

[John]

Thanks folks

I think that is possibly the first time I have seen this newt. I seem to recall that the ones I used to see in my childhood were great crested newts.

I will put one of them in the Gallery now i know its name.

John

[Alan]

Originally Posted by John

Thanks folks

I think that is possibly the first time I have seen this newt. I seem to recall that the ones I used to see in my childhood were great crested newts.

I will put one of them in the Gallery now i know its name.

John

Male smooth newts are often mistaken for greatcrested, just remember that greatcrested are often twice the size of smoothies, and are of course much rarer still.

[John]

Originally Posted by Alan

Male smooth newts are often mistaken for greatcrested, just remember that greatcrested are often twice the size of smoothies, and are of course much rarer still.

Hi Alan

Personally i wouldn't have known the difference when I was a lad but my mates Dad knew his stuff and told me what they were. Unfortunately where they were no longer exists as it has been built on many years ago.

John

[pheonix]

did you see if the neck was spotty underneath?
if so its a smooth but if its plain its a palmate, definatly not a cresty though!