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slow worm eating a slow worm: |
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ben rigsby Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 No. of posts: 337  View other posts by ben rigsby |
Posted: 26 Sep 2010 hi folks, today i had my usual weekly peek under my mums rubber mat for slow-worms. glad i did. saw different specimens than previously eyeballed. AND WHAT WONDERFUL SURPRISES THEY WERE TOO!! FIRST, i saw this slow worm eating a slow worm; 
yes its a SLOW WORM eating a SLOW worm. IE one that didnt get away in time. well what did you think i meant? 
the earthworm was a pretty big prey item. half the size of the AF! it could hardly get its mouth around it. the SW was a beautiful youngster. shiny as new coin;  '
there were 3 under the mat. number TWO; 
and last but BEST OF ALL, how about this tiny baby barely 3 inches long; clearly from a different "litter" too. what does it eat? aphids? dust mites? amoebas?
heres a couple of pics from today in my own garden; Mr grossly RAUK under-represented Toad; ok so hes never going to win any beauty contests - unless its a toads-only one. he hardly moves with the grace of an ice skater either. but never mind the glamour, a very successful and interesting herp species! and my, what beautiful eyes you have Mr Bufo; 
i often find newts grouped together under rocks or logs are they gathered together in a safety-in-numbers type strategy or other reason, or is it simply that theyve all found the best crevice under the refuge? there are plenty of refugia options here. i see it quite often and havent noticed frogs doing it. thoughts anyone? 
spot the new metamorph in this 2 frog pic?;
here he/she is; 
frogs and smooth/palmate newts together in refugia; 
long live garden habitat! 
ben Diversity. |
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dave fixx Senior Member Joined: 13 Mar 2007 No. of posts: 319  View other posts by dave fixx |
Posted: 26 Sep 2010 you rascal Ben had me going then.Excellent finds mate. 
Dave Williams davewilliamsphotography.co.uk |
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Caleb Forum Coordinator Joined: 17 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 448 View other posts by Caleb |
Posted: 27 Sep 2010 [QUOTE=ben rigsby] i often find newts grouped together under rocks or logs are they gathered together in a safety-in-numbers type strategy or other reason, or is it simply that theyve all found the best crevice under the refuge? there are plenty of refugia options here. [/QUOTE] One theory is that it's for moisture retention- the newts retain moisture better when balled up together. I've certainly only seen it in captive newts when they're pretty dry. I've no idea why they come together, though- do they actively seek out other newts, or just accumulate at the best spot? How often do cross-species newt balls occur? (I've seen a few crested/smooth aggregations, but smooth-only seems more common). |
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AGILIS Senior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 No. of posts: 694  View other posts by AGILIS |
Posted: 27 Sep 2010 Ben its a good job we have digital cams as you would have gone bankrupt in the past on film processing keith LOCAL ICYNICAL CELTIC ECO WARRIOR AND FAILED DRUID |
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Vicar Senior Member Joined: 02 Sep 2004 No. of posts: 1181 View other posts by Vicar |
Posted: 01 Oct 2010 Really good stuff Ben. That toad photo is a cracker! I've always had trouble getting the depth of field right with larger amphibians. Steve Langham - Chairman 
Surrey Amphibian & Reptile Group (SARG). |
- slow worm eating a slow worm |