Cornwall Reptile & Amphibian Group
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook

About us

About Us

CRAG - Cornwall Reptile & Amphibian Group

CRAG aims to increase awareness and action on behalf of Cornwall's reptiles (snakes and lizards) and amphibians (frogs, toads and newts)
Its activities include

  • Outings and meetings to develop members knowledge of the species found in the county
  • Participation in survey work
  • Practical conservation tasks
  • We also have social activities and get togethers with other specialist wildlife groups.

The group is open to anyone who would like to be involved with amphibian and reptile conservation in Cornwall.

A small annual subscription of £5.00 is payable by all Members, except students who can currently become a member for £1. New members are welcome to apply to join at any time. Click the Membership tab for full details.

CRAG is affiliated to the Amphibian & Reptile Groups of UK.

Please record all sightings of reptiles and amphibians seen in and around Cornwall - that includes non-natives such as terrapins. The easiest way to do this is to click on the 'Record a sighting' tab above and fill out the form. Although we love watching these animals from a safe distance, sadly not everyone appreciates them so please remember never to share exact locations on social media.

News

News

Winners of the CRAG Photography Competition 2022

Posted on Wednesday 21st December, 2022

18+ Category

We are very happy to announce the '18 or older' category winner of our annual photography competition!

This image was captured by Roger Fleet.

Roger Fleet 11

Judges enjoyed this image as the toad is sharp in contrast with the soft background, allowing the details of the toads skin to be captured!

Roger has some prizes on the way, including a book which was kindly donates by NHBS. Check them out as they have a wide range of books and wildlife products, perfect for a gift to yourself or someone special!

 

18+ runner up

We are very happy to announce the runner-up to the '18 or older' category winner of our annual photography competition! Unfortunately no one entered the '12-17 category' so we didn't want a prize to go to waste!

This image was captured by George Turner.

IMG 20221219 WA0000

Judges enjoyed this image as the slow worm was sharp in contrast to the background, and captured the sunlight that every reptile is looking for.

George has some prizes on the way, including a book which was kindly donates by NHBS . Check them out as they have a wide range of books and wildlife products, perfect for a gift to yourself or someone special!

 

Up to 11 years Category

We are very happy to announce the 'Up to 11 years' category winner of our annual photography competition!

This image was captured by Olivia Williams. 

20220715 202625Olivia Williams

It's amazing to see people such as Olivia at such a young age getting involved and being interested in their local wildlife.

Olivia has some prizes on the way, including a book which was kindly donated by Evelyn Sinclair. Her books are perfect for children to learn about our native wildlife.


Newquay University Centre students take action

Posted on Thursday 8th December, 2022

On Tuesday our scientific officer Stephen was joined by students from @newquayuniversitycentre to do some habitat management, and perhaps spot some of the local wildlife.

Habitat management is a key part in protecting our native reptiles and amphibians. By making the site suitable for them, it provides prime habitat for them in order to thrive.

They also did some updates on some reptile mats, another tool used to survey the populations which are used in ongoing studies!

IMG 20221208 125651 111IMG 20221208 125651 111IMG 20221208 125651 111IMG 20221208 125651 111


CRAG Photography Competition 2022

Posted on Tuesday 17th May, 2022

We are very excited to announce our 3rd annual photography competition!

Have you spotted one of our native reptile or amphibians in Cornwall?

Fancy yourself a photographer? Why not enter our free competition? We have categories for different age groups as we want to see everyone get involved!

Aside from a few rules which can be seen on our poster there is no theme so you can be as creative as you would like!

Prizes will be rewarded for the best!

IMG 20220516 091940 006


CRAG AGM 2021

Posted on Sunday 27th March, 2022

The 2021 AGM was held online on 23rd March 2022. Normally this would have been done back in September but was delayed for various reasons.

Some of the main discussion points included:

  • The need for a replacement Chair since Nicola Morris stepped down for personal reasons. Stephen and Alice have been operating jointly as Acting Chairs and agreed to continue at least until the 2022 AGM in September.
  • Membership is strong and we would like to organise more events for members, though this will take a lot of consideration. We may decide to arrange a collaborative event with DRAG.
  • Our Zoom Pro subscription was a large expense last year but was useful during lockdown for our presentation series which we held online. We need to consider whether it would be worth re-subscribing or if similar talks could be done using Microsoft Teams.
  • Record Pool received a big surge of records from Cornwall last year. We should also consider other recording platforms such as ARGWeb and LivingRecord which allow structured effort surveys and regular monitoring to be recorded.
  • Carn Moor, one of our flagship sites where we have collected a lot of high-quality data, was impacted by the Saint Trails development project. This project has now stopped in activity and is not likely to continue. Habitat clearance had gone ahead which we knew would likely impact one of our main areas of interest. Emily who is the site champion has gathered fantastic data, recording every week in 2021. This data will help in doing a population estimate and survival detection of slow worms.
  • New refugia has bee placed at Breney Common and students are surveying the site as part of their honours project studies.
  • We have been invited to the Penryn BioBlitz. Alice will attend with a stall and run a pond dipping activity.
  • The Herpetofauna Workers meeting will be taking place in June, and it would be good to have some representation from Cornwall.

 


CRAG Pond Dipping Equipment

Posted on Sunday 16th January, 2022

Article written by T. Nicholls

Reading time: minute and a half.

equipment

netIn 2019, Cornwall Reptile and Amphibian Group was able to invest into a pond dipping kit with the money raised through membership fees and donations, allowing the group to provide outreach workshops to the public, schools and community groups in Cornwall.

Since its purchase the kit has been a fantastic tool in helping to engage the public with our native amphibian species and raising awareness of the importance of local ponds as aquatic ecosystems. The pond dipping events have also provided the space and opportunity to engage with wider conversations on climate change, pollution and habitat decline.

In addition to this outreach work the pond dipping kit is also helping to collect valuable data, which is then uploaded onto Record Pool, a website that collects data on herpetofauna in the UK, and ERCCIS (Environmental Records Centre for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly). Contributing towards larger data sets locally and internationally for science and conservation.newts

Although much of these activities ceased during the Covid pandemic in 2020 to 2021, as restrictions begun to ease, the kit was soon back out of storage and is currently being used by local Duke Of Edinburgh students volunteering their Wednesday afternoons helping to eventmanage their local green and blue spaces.

So, if any CRAG members or volunteers would like to organise an event and use the pond dipping equipment please feel free to contact the Chair to organise collection of the kit. Just remember to follow the present Covid government guidelines and biosecurity procedures (check-clean-dry) to stop the spread of invasive aquatic species.

 


Events

Events

Show Past Events

This user currently doesn't have any posts.

Membership

Membership

Membership: Only £5 per year! 

A small annual subscription of £5.00 is payable by all members, except students who can join for just £1 upon proof of studentship by using their student email. Subscribe online using PayPal below.

New members are welcome to apply to join at any time. Members are eligible to join us on surveys, trips, take part in regular monitoring, practical conservation tasks and attend our social events. For insurance purposes you must be a member to take part in activities organised by CRAG.

 

Payment options

 

 

Contact us

Contact Us

For general enquiries please contact:

argcornwall@gmail.com 

 

If you have any questions about reptiles or amphibians please contact our Science Officer below.

 

CRAG is always looking for new volunteers to help with habitat management and species monitoring. If you would like to get involved, please get in touch.

 

 

...
-
-

Acting Chair - Ethan Henderson - Ethe94@gmail.com

Science Officer - Stephen Green - stephen.green@cornwall.ac.uk

Amphibian Champion -  Alice Pawlik - alicepawlik6@hotmail.com

Treasurer - Mark Nicholson

Secretary - Ethan Henderson - Ethe94@gmail.com

Social Media Officer - Ethan Henderson - Ethe94@gmail.com

Volunteer Coordinator - Emily Menear

Data Officer - Becky Turner

Web Officer - Laura Fox

 

Upcoming Events

Upcoming events will be listed here.

Latest News


© Cornwall Reptile & Amphibian Group
Website hits: 46613

 
   
Forgot Login?