Why newts don’t do the dating scene
Newts are fascinating creatures and, if you’re lucky, now’s the time you might spot one in a pond, or hanging about among the weeds. In our April issue we have a feature in praise of the newt - we think they’re a bit magical.
But, in their romantic lives, at least, they’re rather backward in coming forward. The smooth newt (the most common type of newt in Britain) is nocturnal, though not much of a party animal. During daylight hours they hide under stones or in compost heaps, which you wouldn’t think appeals to any newts of the opposite sex looking for love. But there it is. We can’t all be gregarious socialites. In fact, they hibernate between October and March so are out of circulation entirely for almost half the year. You’d think they’d relish the opportunity of some daylight during British Summer Time, really.
But it’s at around this time that the males do start to show a little romantic interest. Being rather unpractised at enticing the fairer sex, they eschew boxes of Terry’s All Gold and bunches of carnations and go straight for the kill, wafting secretions from their glands towards lady newts to entice them their way. Paco Rabanne Pour Homme this stuff is not, unfortunately.
Indeed, no one gets too close to anyone during smooth newt mating season. When Barry White and Candles Night arrives, the male newt simply drops off a packet of sperm near the female, which she collects at her leisure. Not even a peck on the cheek for her trouble. A week or so later, without further ceremony, she lays around 300 eggs on broad-leaved aquatic plants somewhere near her gaff. And that’s that. The romantic life of a smooth newt. Maybe if he were a bit more smooth he’d see a bit more romantic action.
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