Just had to bbq release the 3rd great crested newt in 2 years from the house, all different individuals. Anyone else had this? Can they get in via pipework or owt or have the buggers just snuck in while the door was open. Old farm house so loads of crevices. Not arsed or worried about stopping them getting in just curious.

Not clock

Excellent! Never heard of that before.. outhouses yes but not main house. This is a great read if you are interested in their ecology at all Froglife – GCN .

Photos next time.

You’re probably breaking the law by moving them.

You should probably read page 35 about the legislation protecting them, particularly disturbance.

I’m not breaking the law by stopping them dessicate under the radiator. Householders are permitted to move them, businesses would need a licensed ecologist. I’m a env professional with years chasing these buggers about

In that case “well jell” as my daughter says, trumps the toad in my son’s welly. Where do you move them to when it’s cold like this?

Seasoning log pile, loads of dry moss and leaves in there, ready made hibernaculum

Parents used to get loads, always the same place, a step down between parlour and study. Not sure if it was just somewhere they couldn’t climb out of or because that bit was below ground level and maybe a bit damp. 1730s farmhouse in Lincolnshire. Haven’t had any or ages mind, don’t know why, used to be loads when I was little. Maybe just fewer newts about generally?

You’re probably breaking the law by moving them.

I think common sense takes precedence over the law when the safety of an individual creature is threatened rather than a colony or their local environmental circumstances.
For example, a few years ago a was walking through the warehouse section of the place I was working and noticed something walking across the floor towards me. It was a newt, I thing a smooth newt, but it didn’t have a crest so may have been a female of either common species.
Now, I could have just left it well alone, but in doing so, as it was marching across a smooth concrete floor, where forklift trucks ran moving around heavy pelleted loads, would, with a very, very high degree of certainty, ended up as a very thin smear across the concrete.
What I did was pick the little creature up, get some paper hand towels and wet them and lightly wrap Tiny* in them, then get a small plastic box to keep it safe on the way home.
Then I checked out the local nature conservancy and gave them a call, and they gave me the location of the nearest suitable pond, which was over half a mile where I found Tiny, so I took it there and released it.
I cannot, for the life of me, imagine how an amphibian about 3” long could have found its way into a large commercial building on a large industrial estate, with the nearest stream at least a quarter of a mile away.
*Tiny, because it was my newt. 😁

I think common sense takes precedence over the law when the safety of an individual creature is threatened rather than a colony or their local environmental circumstances.

Quite agree.

with the nearest stream at least a quarter of a mile away.

I’ve fished newts out of boreholes before now. Lifted the bailer it two of them were just in the tube looking out at me. Shat myself a little. Quite likely a stream exists closer than that in a culvert.

The boreholes were downstream of the landfill I was monitoring. But I saw loads in pretty rank pools about the site so I don’t think they are too fussy.

I found a smooth newt in a water butt on my allotment, a half filled water butt, not really sure how Olivia found her way into said water butt. Anyway after a fair amount of trying I eventually managed to scoop her up and carry her down to the pond on the allotments and released her. Junior thought she was cute, and I guess as far as amphibians go she may have been. Hopefully she survived, but I figured she had better chances in the pond than in a dark enclosed tank of water.

Olivia Newton John if you hadn’t worked that out.

“I cannot, for the life of me, imagine how an amphibian about 3” long could have found its way into a large commercial building on a large industrial estate, with the nearest stream at least a quarter of a mile away.”

They must travel a reasonable distance. My dad built a small 8x4ft pond in his suburban garden. Nearest pond two streets and 400 yards away. In a fairly short time he had two species of newts in it. Within a few years it was thick with spawning frogs/toads every March.

They can cover a bit of ground alright used to be 200m from any likely pond we’d have use fences and pitfall traps on sites. Eels too, they can cross a field but have yet to find one in the dining room.

I have the smaller smooth ones in a block paved path running alonside my garage. They have a habit of appering right where the side door is. Always having to look incase my size 10 squashes one.
btw the nearest water is 1/2 mile away.

I once did some work for Defence Estates.
They were in virtually every pond/flooded tank/void that had water in it on one particular disused airfield.
Quite surprised given their conservation status.