Newts

Newt (Common)

admin — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 13:33:38 +0000

The Common Newt is also known as the Smooth Newt and can be found throughout England. It prefers to live in garden ponds where there are no fish, but it also lives in water ditches and on the edges of lakes where there are lots of water weeds. It spends more time on land than in water so it needs to live in an environment which is surrounded by dense vegetation.

The Common Newt has a base colour of orange-brown and is covered with darker brown spots of different sizes. The female is also an orange-brown colour, but the spots on her body are almost black and a lot smaller. Both the male and the female have orange undersides. Around April to May the male Common Newt has a long wavy crest running along the length of its body.

The female Common Newt lays around two hundred eggs and wraps each egg individually in a water plant leaf. After about three weeks ‘larvae’ or ‘newt tadpoles’ hatch out of the eggs. They have long tails and feathery gills. Newt tadpoles almost look like little fish even though they have tiny legs and digits. Within three to four months the young develop into miniature adults called ‘efts’ and this is when they leave the water to spend more time on land where they feed on insects, worms and slugs.

Newt (Great Crested)

admin — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 13:34:09 +0000

The Great Crested Newt is also known as the Warty Newt because its body is covered with lots of wart-like bumps. It can be found in most places in England apart from Cornwall and Devon. It likes to live in ponds or small lakes which have lots of water weeds and no fish, but sometimes it can be found in large garden ponds.

The Great Crested Newt has a base colour of brown-black and is covered with black markings which give it the appearance of being black all over. It has an orange-yellow coloured belly with large black spots. The Great Crested Newt has four toes on its front feet and five toes on its hind feet. Around April to May the male has a large jagged-looking crest running along the length of its body and this is why it has its name the ‘Great Crested Newt’.

The female Great Crested Newt lays around two hundred eggs and wraps each egg individually in a water plant leaf. After about two to three weeks ‘larvae’ or ‘newt tadpoles’ hatch out of the eggs. They have long tails and feathery gills. Newt tadpoles almost look like little fish even though they have tiny legs and digits. Within three to four months the young develop into miniature adults called ‘efts’ and this is when they leave the water to spend more time on land where they feed on insects and worms.

Newt (Palmate)

admin — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 13:34:41 +0000

The Palmate Newt is the smallest amphibian in England and can mainly be found in the south and west of the country on heathlands. It can also be seen on moorlands in the north. It lives on heathlands and moorlands because these areas usually have shallow soft-water pools on acid soil which this newt prefers. Around February to May it can also be found in weedy ponds and pools that hold no fish.

The Palmate Newt has a base colour of olive-brown and is covered with lots of small compact darker markings. It has an orange stripe running down each side of its body which runs right down to its tail. It also has a yellow belly with small black spots and a pinkish coloured throat. During the months of April to May the male Palmate Newt has a very low smooth-looking crest running along the length of its body.

Palmate Newts lay around two hundred eggs individually on the leaves of water plants. After about two to three weeks ‘larvae’ or ‘newt tadpoles’ hatch out of the eggs. They have long tails and feathery gills. The newt tadpoles look like little fish even though they have tiny legs and digits. Within three to four months the young develop into miniature adults called ‘efts’ and this is when they leave the water to spend more time on land where they feed on insects and worms.