Salamander looking for some free heating

[londoneye]

Hi

For the last two nights we have had a salamander (I only know its this because i searched yellow and black lizard and found a previous post thanks to chris of course !) trying to enter house at night.     Cat and dog think its a great game but we have managed to keep them away from him/her so far.  

Open our door at about 11.00 at night and there he is trying to get in.     Should i just leave him or get the gloves out to try and put him elsewhere?

and for anyone who is wondering, its not THAT damp in our house surely ?!

[chris pp]

"Should i just leave him or get the gloves out to try and put him elsewhere?"

So, londoneye, you managed to figure out what sex it is, that, if I may say so is brilliant, well done.[:D]

Seriously, it's probably safer for the salamander and your cat and dog if you move it to a suitable place, don't be too concerned about picking it up with bare hands if it's easier, just wash them afterwards. They are very easy to handle, slow moving and docile, if you can put it on the ground in some nearby trees, the bottom of a hedge or where there is some fallen wood it will be fine.

I guess you must have some form of winter/spring water nearby as most of them stay within 100 metres or so of their birth place, it's remarkable how close to the water source many amphibians stay, even more so with salamanders as after metamorphosis they can't live in water and become completely terrestrial.

Good luck, Chris

 

[londoneye]

i know its male cos he is trying to get a free ride into my house - only joking for all male readers!

i have figured he is living under my step, which is a fairly dangerous place to be with us tromping in and out, so next time he (there i go again !) pops up, i shall try to move him as suggested.    no water nearby as far as i can see, but we did find another one (salamander that is) in the cellar when we moved here, co-habiting with the bat.   Bat is still there but OH moved salamander out thinking it had got "lost" and would like some "sun".   He meant well; it may well be the same one actually.

moving on to the bat, if you read this though chris, i am not sure how he is getting in and out - stupid question from someone who knows very little about bats - do they actually need to come and go, or could he find all the food he needs in cellar ?     he seems happy enough down there (decided this one is male also as you can see), but obviously is a little peeved on the rare occasion we go into cellar and turn on light.

[chris pp]

Bats are amazing in that they gain access through the tiniest of spaces, so unless you have been blocking up holes it will be able to get in and out, and yes, it does need to get in and out. Do you know if it's there all the year or only in winter, and are you sure that there is only one? Next question, do you have a digital camera, a photo would be great if you have, but don't take more than two or three as it can disturb them.

I know that JK has a bit of a thing about bats, but I think they are great.

Chris

[londoneye]

its been  here since we have - april.       have blocked up a lot of the airhole into cellar because cat kept going in and trying to catch the bat.    did leave hole of about 3 x 3 inches, and i am sure there are other gaps it could get out of.      we have only ever seen one.     when the man came to mend the leaking pipe he squealed like paul burrows in the tomb of death or whatever it was called in i'm a celebrity, when it flew over his head.   

we quite like seeing him fly around there.   have a digi-camera and will have a go next time i go down there !

[Jonzjob]

Good luck with your bat Londoneye. They are wonderful little creatures and they are such masters at flying. I love to watch them on a summer/autumn evening as it gets dark. Or around a street light, so quick and agile.

As Chris knows we had one that would make it's appearance at evening mealtimes (obviously femail) and give us a flying display above our dining table. We finally caught her and put her (?) in a box with some food in our loft above the garage and kept a very careful, distant, eye on it. But unfortunately it didn't make it through the winter and the bat man from the local bat group had said that it had probably used up a lot of it's winter resorses by giving us the flying displays.

After trying to care for it through the winter I was quite upset when I found it dead.