Yes. I learned something new, too.
As far as I know, we have two different species of newts here, and they
are both considered as endangered. It hadn't occurred to me that you
might come across them at this particular location, although it has a
couple of ponds which I think are artificial. On the other hand, I'd
heard that they can be found in a certain area a couple of kilometres
away...
- Toralf
On 11/04/17 18:52, Alan C wrote:
Very interesting, Toralf.
I have never seen one. There are no indigenous Newts in SA although I
read that Italian Crested Newts were brought in as "pets" and some
have escaped into the wild.
Alan C
-----Original Message----- From: Toralf Lund
Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2017 2:38 PM
To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List
Subject: Re: PESO - Lizard(s), passed on?
On 11/04/17 06:37, Alan C wrote:
It is surprising that lizards can survive your winter conditions at
all yet
obviously some do.
Yeah, maybe that's the surprising bit. Apparently, you can find them in
much more northerly parts of the country...
Many reptiles are able to survive very cold conditions
by hibernating. Even here, where it doesn't get very cold, the lizards &
snakes tend to be quite sluggish on cooler mornings.
Quite. I few years ago I actually came across a slow-worm on the
pavement near where I live. This was an a cool evening rather than
morning, and the English name of the creature seemed quite appropriate,
if you know what I mean.
I would say those are
in the process of emerging from hibernation. Perhaps you should have
observed them over an extended period?
Anyhow, I actually asked the natural history museum, and according to
them, this is in fact not a lizard after all, but rather a newt in its
"terrestrial phase", also known as an "eft". I thought these would have
flatter and thicker tails, but I guess that's something that they
develop later... Apparently, they will wander from their place of
hibernation to dams around this time, and run a great risk of drying out
if it's too sunny. There is also a change that they have been forced out
into the sun because their place has been disturbed.
- Toralf
Alan C
-----Original Message----- From: Bob W-PDML
Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2017 1:09 AM
To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List
Subject: Re: PESO - Lizard(s), passed on?
Perhaps they were pottering along in the warm sunshine but were
caught out by a sudden cold snap and are simply frozen waiting to be
warmed up again. That would be appropriate for Easter. Only a
herpetologist or a theologian would know.
B
On 10 Apr 2017, at 23:01, Toralf Lund <tor...@toralf.net> wrote:
Hi,
There seems to have been a number of "what is this" PESOs lately,
and I think I'll post one, too, as I came across something strange
and perhaps a bit sad today. Here I go:
http://se.toralf.net/post/159427976638/firfisle
Not the best of pictures, but the point is to ask if anyone have an
explanation of what I saw. Well, I think I know what this is; it's
what's known as "firfisle" around here, i.e. a small lizard. The
thing is (the sad part), I don't think he was sitting so still
because he was pining for the fjords, but rather had passed on,
ceased to be, expired and gone to meet his maker, run down the
curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible, and so on. Perhaps
nothing extraordinary, either, but I actually saw 15-20 of these in
a similar state, all on a pawed path. This made me wonder what was
going on. I mean, perhaps these poor creatures just didn't make it
through the winter, but I think it's a bit strange to find several
of them "in the open" like this.
Any theories?
- Toralf
--
PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
PDML@pdml.net
http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above
and follow the directions.
--
PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
PDML@pdml.net
http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow
the directions.
