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What was it?

rosemummyrosemummy Posts: 2,010
in Wildlife gardening
we visited Haddon hall yesterday ( yearly pilgrimage to drool at roses, incidentally if anyone knows where I can get some hazel bean sticks short of nipping round to nick some from months garden please tell me!) we were sitting by the pond& saw a few times much too quickly to get a picture, what looked like either a very large beetle or a tiny turtle diving down into the water! My 7year old spotted it& was entranced ( she is a water fairy) know it's not much to go on but does anyone have an idea what it could have been? It was around 2inches long& an inch wide thank you in advance x

Posts

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    I don't think we have beetles that big in UK. Some people release terrapins, I saw one pulled out of the Trent that was the size of a dinnerplate. Whether it would be warm enough for them to breed in Derbyshire, I don't know.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    The great diving beetle gets up to about 3cm long and would be your most likely suspect as not much gets bigger than that. Don't rule out turtle though as there are quite a few living wild in the UK. My dad caught one while fishing in the Forest of Dean.

    I know my local nursery sells hazel sticks and I think quite a few garden centres do.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • rosemummyrosemummy Posts: 2,010
     thank you both, i'll google& see, no gc s near stock them, they look at me as if I'm asking for the moon on a stick, even at our local woodland where they do lots of woodcraft courses& sell all manner of lovely things they looked a bit lost, I think Sheffield is a bit off the garden map, we don't seem to be up there! 
  • rosemummyrosemummy Posts: 2,010
    Yes great diving beetle thankyou! 
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    There are lots of pea sticks on Ebay.
  • rosemummyrosemummy Posts: 2,010
    Thanks fire , Had a look think they're thinner than I wanted,I'll look again
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