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Reptiles and Amphibians of Cumbria

PostPosted: Sun Aug 22, 2010 10:56 pm
by Daniel Kane
Cumbria is the most north-western county in England. Within it is the Lake District National Park, a mecca for hikers and holidaymakers who wish to spend time in the highest mountains in England (and experience the cold, windy, rainy weather the north is famous for!).

Here you may find the 4 'common' British reptiles - Anguis fragilis, Zootoca vivipara, Natrix natrix and Vipera berus. The wetter and cooler climate does not suit the other two UK native reptiles well, so these are accordingly not found here. There have been reports of Lacerta agilis in some areas of the county, but these have never been confirmed and I put down to particularly green Zootoca. This climate does suit all 6 of our native amphibians quite well though - Rana temporaria, Bufo bufo, Bufo calamita, Lissotriton helveticus, Lissotriton vulgaris, and Triturus cristatus.

I set up a free website a few years ago to provide information and photos on these species. There are no other websites providing information on Cumbria's herpetofauna like this one, just museum pages and general wildlife websites. Perhaps one day it will grow larger and more informative, but for now I feel it serves its purpose quite well.

If there are any improvements you would like to see, or feedback you'd like to give, please don't hesitate to let me know either through here or through the site itself.

Thanks

Dan

http://www.randacumbria.moonfruit.com