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salamandersrock

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This is a very random question, but how come fire salamanders do not live in the wild in the UK? It is strange because the UK would be the perfect climate for them, its never too hot, rains a lot and doesn't snow too much. Also, around my area there is loads of woodland which have lots of small streams. I know that the channel has probably stopped them coming over by themselves, but I would have thought that when they invented boats and what not they would have came over and thrived in our habitat. Any ones ideas are welcome :) and no, before anyone asks I am not thinking of letting mine go to start a new UK species :p Just curious why they are not in our country
 
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shmifty5

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I would take a guess that if any of them made it over to the UK by boat (i doubt many if any would survive the trip) that the local fauna would easily out-compete and eat the new sals, as well the UK may have a climate that doesn't agree with the sals on some level or another or the local woods might not be hospitable to the alien sals.

In anycase i doubt that the sals would enjoy the UK, it is literally jam packed with people, which as we all know, sals don't like humans as much as they love hydrochloric acid (do not put your sal or any live animal into hyrdrochloric acid, this is a bad idea).
 

dipsydoodle

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Only certain areas of the UK are jam packed wth people. I guess it's like anything; IF they did make it over they probably came in such small numbers and didn't survive or the habitat wasn't any good for them.
 

salamandersrock

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yeah i agree with you dipsydoodle, there would need to be a high number that would have to come over to actually breed on to the next generation. did some more research and i think that snakes and hedgehogs would prey on the young salamanders causing them to die out if they came in small numbers. actually only the southern and midlands of the UK are jammed with people.There is loads of contryside in northern england, south west of england, mostly all of wales and scotland accept the major cities there. i wished i lived in a more eastern part of europe, then i would just have to walk to the nearest woods to find salamanders. in england i'm lucky if i see grass snake once a year :(
 

Azhael

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I think i´ve heard about some introduced population somewhere in england, but can´t really remember...
If it´s true..it´s yet another wonderfully stupid human mistake.....
 

dipsydoodle

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yeah i agree with you dipsydoodle, there would need to be a high number that would have to come over to actually breed on to the next generation. did some more research and i think that snakes and hedgehogs would prey on the young salamanders causing them to die out if they came in small numbers. actually only the southern and midlands of the UK are jammed with people.There is loads of contryside in northern england, south west of england, mostly all of wales and scotland accept the major cities there. i wished i lived in a more eastern part of europe, then i would just have to walk to the nearest woods to find salamanders. in england i'm lucky if i see grass snake once a year :(

I live in the North and from Yorkshire up it's countryside with the odd town in the middle. For instance I live on the edge of a city; I work 5 miles out of the city centre (ish) and at work I can't see another building; I work opposite a natural nature reserve and we frequently see deer running around the field; my strangest animal sighting at work was a cat - we get loads of wildlife so seeing something "normal" was strange. Although we think it's a ferral cat (it's nasty looking).

I however think a Salamander in Scotland outdoors would freeze (my friend in Aberdeen said that on the 1st May bank holiday that they had snow hahaha).

I can't ever say I've seen a grass snake (in the wild); I've seen lots of lizards when I've been abroad; my boyfriends family have a house in Portugal and there are chameleons in the tree outside the house (I want to steal it but I can't haha).
 
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