WHAT is this in my Garden?!?!?

[Pinkdreams]

What is this in my garden?????? I don't even think I want to know, I am terrified!!!

It's not a baby Newt!

It is a Kaiju -

%3D%3D

As others have said, it's a newt.

I'm a toad patrol volunteer. At this time of year lots of toads and newts try to find ponds. There is a lane in our village which is a highway for toads and newts. We go out in the evening to try to pick them up from the road before they get squashed, and pop them inext to a pond in a residents garden.

I was out there last night with some other volunteers, and in the space of an hour we rescued 23 toads, 2 frogs and 9 newts. We also sadly came across 6 dead toads.

My first thought was a common lizard, I've seen them in our log pile and they're easy to ID because there are hardly any lizard species in the UK - slow worm, common lizard and very rare sand lizard.

Smooth newts are the most common UK newts and pretty common in garden ponds, we always have several in ours. There are also palmate and great crested in the UK I think.

I promise it will be 100 times more terrified of you than you should be of it OP!

You thought it might be a baby rat????

I mean, where to even start with that…

Run!!!

We had them in our hall this time last year. Obv took a wrong turning

Please don't kill it.

You are very lucky to have it.

Lucky you! I have a small pond and my garden and I would love to have newts as I also get a lot of snails and slugs...

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2020/02/british-newt-id/

It's a newt!

Nothing to be scared of! I'd be quite excited to see one in my garden! I'd probably be on my hands and knees saying, "Hello Mr Newt!"

Awwww. A cute little newt. If it's tummy is a bit orangey-yellow and spotty, it's a boy.

Do you have toads as well? They're great, too. You can always tell if you've got loads or frogs by the spawn- if it's a blob of spawn, it's a frog, but toads lay long strings of spawn like jelly necklaces with little dark pearls that are the tadpoles.

Not meaning to sound rude but how have we got so disconnected from nature that people can't recognise a newt and are terrified of the beautiful little thing?

Awwww. A cute little newt. If it's tummy is a bit orangey-yellow and spotty, it's a boy

Depends on the species!

I thought you meant the white splodge next to it

Then saw the harmless little thing, why so worried?

Terrified? Really?

Don't be scared and do NOT hurt it, they are endangered and protected by law.

I would be thrilled to find this in my garden! You are so lucky op.

One of the weirdest fucking threads I've seen in a while.

Applies to common newts - they're just not as luminous orange as great crested.

I spent a lot of time around the pond watching wildlife as a kid.

That's probably why people don't recognise perfectly normal animals and are terrified of them - the blanket 'all ponds, puddles and buckets must be filled in rather than supervising tiny children or putting a grille over the top/lockable gate around it'.

So they never get to see the creatures unless they're lucky enough to be allowed to go on a school trip that involves pond dipping.

Ooh we get these near our pond! They’re our slug eaters.
The only thing about them that terrifies me is that I might accidentally tread on one. I walk with great care in our wild area.

OP, you would have been terrified of the adder I saw yesterday! 😁 I'm in Scotland and walk my dog on a moor quite often. The adder must have just come out of hibernation and was all coiled up in the sun, looking cute and drowsy.

@Pinkdreams It's a newt. Leave him/her alone- she will know her environment.

First time I saw a grass snake was it swimming across a lake as I was paddling a kayak. They're a whole world away from a tiny little slow worm (a legless lizard for those who don't know), shining like silver with their adorable little eyelids blinking.

It's crazy- how could one be ''terrified'' of a newt?

They are such benign , lovely little amphibians.

Slowies {as we call them} have absolutely beautiful faces.. we had one that had babies- tiny bronze beauties like copper and bronze jewellery. They really shine in the sun, so glossy.