2015 promises to be the busiest year so far for HertsARG. Activities are going to include;

• GCN surveying courses
• Reptile and Amphibian ID courses.
• Frequent countywide visits in order to survey for presence of Herpetofauna.
• HertsARG representation at conferences worldwide.
• Proctical conservation and habitat restoration work.

Please get in touch if you are interested!

The problem caused by ready availability and the various "crazes" associated with pet turtles or terrapins, is well known. Animals are bought when small, often following bad advice from pet shops and aquatic centres, and grow to be large, demanding reptiles. Often, when that little creature (which was cute when the size of a 50p coins) is 10" long, eating loads, smelling badly and maybe even nipping fingers, people feel less inclined to keep them. And that is when they get dumped . . .

Recently, a local animal rescue contacted me on behalf of a local Council. They have asked that some terrapins, illegally dumped in a pond, be removed, for the welfare of the animals as well as the impact they may be having on the environment.

Therefore, HertsARG has now constructed (and is refining) a turtle trap, which is a humane method of catching basking turtles - a sort of floating basket- in order that they can be safely removed. Catching these animals is proving tricky, but the work is ongoing!

If you know of any illegally released terrapins please let us and we can try to help.

If you have turtles/terrapins (or any reptile/amphibian) which you are struggling to keep and are thinking of releasing PLEASE get in touch. You won't get into trouble but we have contacts and resources which we can use to help you out.07581121270

Over the last few months, Dr Chantal Helm of the University of Hertfordshire, and a HertsARG member has been organising a progect at Balls Wood reserve. This woodland site contains a number of ponds, in various stages of pond "life cycles" which are home to a number of amphibian and reptile species. These include several species of newt (including Great Crested Newts).

Over the past 2 years, many of these ponds have had conservation work carried at the direction of HMWT, but before the work was done a survey was carried out to see how amphibians were doing in these ponds.

The results of the repeated survey visits conducted earlier this year are in, and although processing the data is at an early stage, it seems that the work undertaken has had a positive impact on populations. Watch this space for further details!

 

 

With the warming weather, amphibians are out and about. Keep an eye out for frogs and toads and their spawn around ponds and other water bodies. If you know of a toad crossing site, we would be very keen to hear from you. Any records, please submit them to this site.

Next week we will be doing some reccies of ponds in the East of Hertfordshire as well as on wildlife sites in order to plan our amphibian surveys from April. If you are keen to get involved, please get in touch.

Preparation for the year's surveys and conservation tasks about to take off