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kindredspirit Rank attained: Chlorophyll for blood

Joined: 10 Nov 2008 Posts: 2283 Location: Mid-west.
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 9:03 pm Post subject: Never knew there were Lizards in this country. |
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I saw a Lizard beside the pond last October (Never knew there were Lizards here) and a couple of weeks ago I found his cache of almost 100 empty Ramshorn Snail shells underneath a clump of Cortaderia Richardii.
Apparently they're very good swimmers and the cache was right next to where I disturbed him/her and adjacent to a flagstone leant at 45° into the pond so that creatures can get in and out.
So now I can add a lizard to my collection of wildlife loitering around the pond.  _________________ .
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A little garden in Co. Limerick. Some non-gardening photographs. |
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Greengage Rank attained: Chlorophyll for blood
Joined: 09 Nov 2011 Posts: 3066 Location: Kildare
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My Potatoes Rank attained: Pedunculate oak tree

Joined: 27 Feb 2013 Posts: 307 Location: Cork
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Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 8:09 am Post subject: |
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Likewise. I saw my first lizard in this country last summer. Initially I assumed it was an alien escapee only to discover that they do exist in the wild here. |
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James Kilkelly Rank: Site Admin

Joined: 30 May 2006 Posts: 2173 Location: West of Ireland
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tippben Rank attained: Vegetable garden tender
Joined: 15 Jan 2011 Posts: 921 Location: north tipperary
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Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 1:35 pm Post subject: |
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Given the location, and the time of year, it was almost certainly a newt. They hibernate under logs and stones, and only use the pond full time during may-july, the breeding season. The rest of the time they are land based, though they can and will use the pond to escape from danger.
The Common Lizard will still be hibernating. It is far too cold yet, so unless one was in a hibernation burrow and was disturbed, I wouldn't expect to see any for another 6 weeks, and even then only on warm sunny days. |
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My Potatoes Rank attained: Pedunculate oak tree

Joined: 27 Feb 2013 Posts: 307 Location: Cork
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Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 3:05 pm Post subject: |
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Lots of newts in north Cork. |
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tagwex Rank attained: Chlorophyll for blood

Joined: 23 Feb 2010 Posts: 5146 Location: Co. Wexford
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Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 8:07 pm Post subject: |
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Have never seen a newt in this country, but seen loads in London back in the day, when we used to catch them as boys. I can remember my Granny calling them an eft, pronounced 'evet'. Can anyone enlighten me on this as I believe it was a newt that she was referring to. Is this the Irish word for a newt or maybe it is a colloquial term - I just don't know? She told me that they loved buttermilk and would jump down your throat!!! Could be a slow worm too. _________________ “It’s my field. It’s my child. I nursed it. I nourished it. I saw to its every want. I dug the rocks out of it with my bare hands and I made a living thing of it!”
This boy can really sing http://youtu.be/Dgv78D2duBE |
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kindredspirit Rank attained: Chlorophyll for blood

Joined: 10 Nov 2008 Posts: 2283 Location: Mid-west.
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Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 8:30 pm Post subject: |
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tippben wrote: | Given the location, and the time of year, it was almost certainly a newt. They hibernate under logs and stones, and only use the pond full time during may-july, the breeding season. The rest of the time they are land based, though they can and will use the pond to escape from danger.
The Common Lizard will still be hibernating. It is far too cold yet, so unless one was in a hibernation burrow and was disturbed, I wouldn't expect to see any for another 6 weeks, and even then only on warm sunny days. |
It has definitely been identified by an expert as a lizard. The creature was the size of a lizard (twice as big as a newt) and ran at "disturbed lizard speed", which is very fast. They hibernate from November to end of February but a warm spell will bring them out earlier. So one can see them in October.
I have about 30 newts in my pond. They are a different colouring. Newts go into the pond in February/March and come out in May. So after May, they are land-based. _________________ .
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A little garden in Co. Limerick. Some non-gardening photographs. |
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tagwex Rank attained: Chlorophyll for blood

Joined: 23 Feb 2010 Posts: 5146 Location: Co. Wexford
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Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 9:15 pm Post subject: |
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Maybe your water is radioactive and this is a teenage mutant ninja newt!!!
Or else an escapee from chaps bedroom tank. _________________ “It’s my field. It’s my child. I nursed it. I nourished it. I saw to its every want. I dug the rocks out of it with my bare hands and I made a living thing of it!”
This boy can really sing http://youtu.be/Dgv78D2duBE |
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kindredspirit Rank attained: Chlorophyll for blood

Joined: 10 Nov 2008 Posts: 2283 Location: Mid-west.
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tagwex Rank attained: Chlorophyll for blood

Joined: 23 Feb 2010 Posts: 5146 Location: Co. Wexford
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Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 10:23 pm Post subject: |
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Well that puts to bed the notion of only three native reptiles, frog, toad and newt. Learn something new everyday. _________________ “It’s my field. It’s my child. I nursed it. I nourished it. I saw to its every want. I dug the rocks out of it with my bare hands and I made a living thing of it!”
This boy can really sing http://youtu.be/Dgv78D2duBE |
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tippben Rank attained: Vegetable garden tender
Joined: 15 Jan 2011 Posts: 921 Location: north tipperary
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Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2014 12:32 pm Post subject: |
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Tagwex. "Eft" is the Anglo-saxon (old English) word for newt. It survives as the term for juvenile newts that still have their gills. |
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tippben Rank attained: Vegetable garden tender
Joined: 15 Jan 2011 Posts: 921 Location: north tipperary
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Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2014 12:33 pm Post subject: |
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Well then Kindredspirit, you are a very lucky man! |
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My Potatoes Rank attained: Pedunculate oak tree

Joined: 27 Feb 2013 Posts: 307 Location: Cork
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Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2014 2:00 pm Post subject: |
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tagwex wrote: | I can remember my Granny calling them an eft, pronounced 'evet'. |
Eft was a regular solution in the Irish Times Simplex crossword. I didn't realise the pronunciation was evet, though the good people at Dictionary.com don't seem to be aware of this:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/eft?s=t |
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kindredspirit Rank attained: Chlorophyll for blood

Joined: 10 Nov 2008 Posts: 2283 Location: Mid-west.
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Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2014 5:49 pm Post subject: |
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tagwex wrote: | Well that puts to bed the notion of only three native reptiles, frog, toad and newt. Learn something new everyday. |
Frog, Toad and Newt are amphibians. (To be pedantic.)
The Common Lizard (is that an oxymoron?) is the only native reptile in Ireland.
Of course Albert gets into the pond in the summer but he's only a "blow-in".
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A little garden in Co. Limerick. Some non-gardening photographs. |
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