November 19th 2009

    It has been a good year for most amphibians.   But I disturbed a large Salamander deep in compost, so carefully I had to re-bury him.  

    Quite what he thought he was doing there, I am not sure.  He watched me as I checked for shovel damage.  I could see his moving eye accuse me of heinousness as I covered him with leaf litter before adding soil.  

    Always a shame to disturb something sleeping.  And I am never quite sure what to do.  So I think of that Salamander now, and I wonder whether I should have allowed him his own chance to find another winter place, rather than rushing to his rescue like a guilty man.

    Now he'll probably wake to the warmth of Spring in a terrible mood.  Huddle with his comrades, plotting.  Or he could become like the fawn so ably attended to earlier this year.  And he'll be sampling the fare in the perennial border, quite shocked by the idea of anyone wanting him gone.  Padding past the kitchen window, sulking and stamping his foot when chased or shouted at.

    Always a dilemma with wild things.

tim candler

Previous  Next