Eye of Newt..

"Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog..

Good old Shakespeare. Where would we be without his fine words? We'd simply be too reliant on sayings from the bible and nautical terms.

Our lovely British amphibians are heading out to their favourite ponds around now to breed and I am guilty of bothering them, albeit in an attempt to prevent them from becoming another road casualty. The beautiful male smooth newt above I rescued from a drain. Really I'm just looking for excuses to handle them as they're totally gorgeous - just look at those little feet!

Much less attractive is the Alp-luachra, also known as a joint-eater. It originates from Celtic/Irish mythology and is an evil, greedy fairy who turns into a newt. When a person falls asleep beside a river or stream, the amphibian-formed fairy, crawls down into their mouth and feeds on the food that they have eaten. Legend tells us that you must consume salted meat to rid yourself of the little parasite as the salt makes it thirsty and has to leave to get a drink. You have been warned! Evidently, being vegetarian means I need to remain extra vigilant.

Young newts are called efts, which is actually a middle english word for newt, along with euft, evete, or ewt(e). The old process of juncture loss meant the letter n was bandied about a lot, think of nuncle instead of uncle. So Bob's your nuncle and ewt became newt!

These tiny, charming amphibians can live up to fifteen years, not bad eh? Seeing them scurrying along a busy lane, reminds me a daschund navigating a runway, (if only in my head). If you want to do something wonderful, click on the fabulous image of a male great crested below and it will take you to the Froglife toad patrol page where you can volunteer yourself. Fear not, all 'phibs' are aided, not just toads.

Scientists have been studying dedifferentiation, the rejuvenation of cells in newts, used to regenerate lost tissue when the poor things have severed a limb. They have developed a technique to rejuvenate cells from older people with osteoarthritis to repair worn or damaged cartilage to reduce pain. These little dragons can teach us a lot.

Please do look out for our little water-loving friends over the next few weeks once it's warmed up again, particularly near ponds and when you're in the car, slow you down. You may even spot yours truly with hi-viz and industrial torch, being a human shield, (definitely not endorsed by Froglife). I'll be the idiot constantly talking to my little wards and asking the frogs to kindly not jump out of the bucket before I get a chance to place them in the pond. I love those little critters.

Keep warm and be safe.

With love, Annie x

© Norfolk Psychics 2016

#newt #amphibian #spring #froglife