Wild Newts

[lorie]

My mums friend brought 5 newts to us from her pond because she has too many.
I'm not sure what type of newts they are though. I know they're not red belly newts but there's one (that i presume is male) that has a bright colored tail! The colours i noticed were red,blue, pale yellow and petrol green.
Very pretty.
Any ideas?

 

[joan]

Next time, tell your mum's friend to leave the newts in the pond. Nature self-regulates, and 'too many' is not an issue.

Are you sure they're not crested newts?

 

[mark]

They will be one of our 3 native species, smooth newt (lissotriton vulgaris), palmate newt, (lissotriton helveticus) or crested newt (triturus cristatus). Google them for images or check out the species list on CC http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Salamandridae.shtml
Crested newts are protected in the UK and it's illegal to move them. Yours are most likely l.vulgaris as they are the most abundant. As Joan states it's best to leave wild newts alone and if you don't know one newt from another you may even be breaking the law.