Reply to Woody My grandmother used to live in Albert Road, South Norwood, and I got a frantic phone call one evening to say she had found a frightening beast in the garden. I drove over to find the biggest male stag beetle I have ever seen trapped under an upturned flowerpot. No amount of my urging would convince her that this was anything than the Devil incarnate and she vowed to tread on any others she ever saw. I'm glad to know they are still around despite her fears.
I have loads of black beetles which I think are ground beetles. As far as I am aware the only thing they harm are the dreaded flatworms which are a nuisance in the part of Scotland where I live.
Just sat on the sofa watching tv in the evening and heard a strange scratching sound , i thought oh no not mice then i saw an enormous black object walk out from under the sofa, at this point i called out for my husband to come and get the insect out .He put a plstic cup over it and slid paper underneath then put it outside the front door .Ive seen stag beetles before , one got caught in my mums hair once when i was younger living in london but nothing as big as this it was the size of the palm of my hand,We now live in southampton.
Reply to Cockney Flown South As you can see from this Biodiversity Network Map http://data.nbn.org.uk/interactive/map.jsp?srchSp=NBNSYS0000011448 Southampton is well within the known area for stag beetles, but you are still very lucky to see one away from London. I remember many years ago walking through Arundel Park in Sussex and hearing a grown man screaming. He had walked into waist-high stinging nettles to retrieve a football and a stag beetle had latched onto his jeans. My father strode up, carefully lifted it free and gave to me, a 5- or 6-year-old, to hold in my hand.
I made a small garden pond last year, added tadpoles and fish. The tadpoles disappeared and I assumed the fish ate them. We were still feeding the fish beacuse they were surfacing every night but unfortunately they all died with their mouth open, full of food and sticking to the 6inches of ice we had. One frog returned to the pond and my son said "we'll have frogs this year." "Not with one frog we won't". I replied worried because he's now 13yrs. Anyway, I found a source of approx 100 tadpoles. We now have 1cm frogs and still several tadpoles. I have put in oxygenating plants which the tadpoles have been enjoying. The plants are survivng and growing. However, I was taking out dead leaves and found a green almost silky like webbing at the base of the pond and wondered if this had something to do with frogs? If any could advise what it is? We are installing a filter and pump before we buy more fish but should we wait until all the tadpoles have developed into frogs? I very much appreciate any advise.
Posts
My grandmother used to live in Albert Road, South Norwood, and I got a frantic phone call one evening to say she had found a frightening beast in the garden. I drove over to find the biggest male stag beetle I have ever seen trapped under an upturned flowerpot. No amount of my urging would convince her that this was anything than the Devil incarnate and she vowed to tread on any others she ever saw. I'm glad to know they are still around despite her fears.
http://www.friendsofdkhwood.org/2011/06/stag-beetles/
As you can see from this Biodiversity Network Map
http://data.nbn.org.uk/interactive/map.jsp?srchSp=NBNSYS0000011448
Southampton is well within the known area for stag beetles, but you are still very lucky to see one away from London. I remember many years ago walking through Arundel Park in Sussex and hearing a grown man screaming. He had walked into waist-high stinging nettles to retrieve a football and a stag beetle had latched onto his jeans. My father strode up, carefully lifted it free and gave to me, a 5- or 6-year-old, to hold in my hand.
"Not with one frog we won't". I replied worried because he's now 13yrs. Anyway, I found a source of approx 100 tadpoles. We now have 1cm frogs and still several tadpoles. I have put in oxygenating plants which the tadpoles have been enjoying. The plants are survivng and growing. However, I was taking out dead leaves and found a green almost silky like webbing at the base of the pond and wondered if this had something to do with frogs? If any could advise what it is? We are installing a filter and pump before we buy more fish but should we wait until all the tadpoles have developed into frogs? I very much appreciate any advise.