The Blowfish AKA Tom Hird
Hi Guys, The Blowfish here, branching out from my usually marine stuff to give you a mighty slice of something epic… even if it doesn’t have fins! Now the cool dudes at Meet The Species have asked The Blowfish to give you guys a quick run down on our native amphibians and reptiles. So where to start? Well why don’t we frog about blogs? Oh… er… blog about frogs!?? Yes, that sounds right!
The European Common Frog (Rana temporaria) is a fantastic example of all that is amphibian and I know from the species lists that many of you have found this webbed footed wonder. Well come next year, around spring time, if you return to the pools and ponds where you first spotted the common frog, you might be lucky enough to find some frogspawn. I think frogspawn is amazing, the transformation from tiny fish-like tadpole, complete with gills, to full-blown hopping, leaping, lung breathing frog is something you have to see to believe. Why not visit the spawn over the course of a few weekends and see how it changes. Or, with the help of an adult, it is possible to keep a very small amount of spawn in a fish tank with plenty of clean pond water. Make sure you do plenty of water changes with water from the original pond and put those taddies straight back as soon as they start growing their legs!
- Frog
What other amphibby buddies have we got? There is the Common Toad (Bufo bufo), who doesn’t really like swimming in the water. But he does love rummaging around in the wet undergrowth at night, munching down slugs! Old Toad is the gardener’s friend, and no mistake. Don’t try and eat the toad though, they secrete powerful toxins from their skin as a very effective predator defence.
Oh, I’ve even seen from the list that some of you found newts! Newts are fantastic critters – and did you know they like to dance? If you’re ever lucky enough to find a nice calm pond or pool where you know newts return to breed you might be privileged to watch the mating dance. It’s very complicated and involves a lot of hard work from the male, with dancing, tail waving and head pressing. But if done correctly, the female walks away fertilised. Then, she’ll carefully wrap each egg individually in a tiny leaf. Cracking!
Ok then, enough wet stuff. How about something hot and dry? Certainly not an English summer then! Some of you were lucky enough to spot one of our most beautiful reptiles, the Slow Worm (Anguis fragilis). Now the name is hardly fair, not only is he not slow, he’s certainly no worm either. In fact, he is a legless lizard. The best time to spot these guys is in the early morning where they are basking themselves on hot rocks in the morning sun. After a bit of sunbathing, they are ready for a busy day of hunting, favouring small snails and worms as perfect prey. Slow worms actually give birth to live young rather than laying eggs, but sadly are in decline due to habitat loss, the slow worm is a British reptile who could really do with our help!
Slow Worm- Photo from Andy Ryder at Avon Reptiles & Amphibians
Right guys, that was a brief look at some of the creatures you’ve been out there making friends with! Stick with Meet The Species blog as we round up this cracking critter-based summer and I’ll see you soon with an altogether fishier blog!
See Ya!
Blowfish
To read more about Reptiles, Amphibians and Marine Life, you can visit the Blowfish’s blog here; www.school-of-fish.co.uk/blog
Or to contact Tom (Hird AKA the Blowfish) please visit;http://www.atwenterprises.co.uk
Many thanks for your great contribution Blowfish!
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