A Common Newt

When I lifted up a piece of broken concrete I found this newt (I had thought it was a lizard) and although I left the concrete out of the way it never moved a muscle during several return visits. The following clip also shows it, with other creatures moving around as well. It was very wet under the concrete and under some boards nearby there were 4 more like this one, though one was lighter in colour. I couldn't put the piece of concrete back for fear of harming the lizard so after producing some video and asking the neighbours to take a look I left it to find its way to safety. I'm sorry to say that next day I found the newt dead. It seems that it was the shock of having the piece of concrete lifted that may have done it. Possibly it was the decompression, because it was very wet under the concrete. In the UK, Common Newts are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. That protection only means that they can't be bought and sold. It was still legal to disturb them in the wild.

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YouTube | June 6, 2008

Tags:. .because. .still. .put. .never. .next