New Year’s Eve - How Many of these Will We See?

Alcohol - as Brad Paisley says - for some of the best times you’ll never remember.  Lots of impressions of these little darlings over the years between tonight’s events and the start of the New Year.

Mrs SoL decided to ‘winterise’ the swimming pool.  This beauty was in the pool pump skimmer, so had been sucked through the pipework and had, by some miracle survived.  She (because that is what it is based on markings and lack of any head crest at all) is a Marbled Newt. Online study says that they are a protected species in France, also in decline in our region.  She was small, so quite young.  4cm only, but the females can grow to 17 cm!  She has been relocated to our friend’s natural reed pond.  She will join numerous other salamanders and newts of different kinds that have made it into our pool over the years.  We found out that there had been a natural pond where a previous owner had put our pool, which explains the determination of all manner of amphibians to try and return there.

So, tonight, remember what you may look like if you over-indulge in the hard stuff!