Wild Salamanders

[marc]

<font color="0000ff"><font face="arial,helvetica"></font>Hi Folks, new to the site - We live in The Netherlands, and have just bought a house, the previous occupants recently told us in the pond in the front garden, there are about 150 Salamanders 'Wild'.
Is this good for the environment? is it healthy to have these? Should we be worried? Apparently they live off the pond life.
We have a cat, will the cat eat them if it catches them?
My Fiance is worried, please help!</font>}

 

[joan]

They're a great indicator of a healthy pond. Salamanders are very sensitive to water quality, and often won't inhabit ponds that are polluted. If the population is thriving, that's great.

The cat will probably eat them if he catches one, but this is only a problem if you have some of the really poisonous ones in your pond. If you could post a picture, we'd be able to tell you what species is in your pond and make a further assessment.

 

[justin]

Even if the cat catches a toxic one, the toxin has a foul taste so it will not be eaten. As Joan said, they are also good indicators of water quality (as are some species of insect larvae). I would not be concerned in the least.
j

 

[benjamin]

I might like to add that salamanders are good for the environment. You should be happy to have such a large number of salamanders in your yard because they keep down numbers of pest insects. Cats on the other hand are a threat to the environment, and even if the cat doesn't eat the salamanders due to their poor taste, it probably will kill a few. Salamanders are not the only wild life killed by cats and I highly recommend you keep your animal indoors. Neighbors with out cats usually don't welcome other peoples pets in their back yards either.

 

[ali]

You surely can't be blamed for having a cat though! So cute! Good luck in determining what species you've got!

 

[william]

if they are salamanders and not newts then they won't go into the water anyway, and it will only be the larvae that will be eating pondlife. you are lucky to have so many in your garden!

 

[marc]

How can cats be a threat to the environment?
They are independant, unlike a dog. When they do take a leak or a poo, they cover it completely, unlike a dog who will run 10 meters, then attempt to cover it from there, then run off.
I wouldnt dream of keeping the cat indoors.

So what are Salamanders like on toast? (joke)

 

[ian]

Well, I guess just that most peoples in here have greater love with Salamander then with Cat. And Cat can be predator of Salamander.

I really dont want to imagine anything eating salamander. What a pain...

 

[russ]

I like cats, but actually they are very detrimental to local fauna, especially small ground dwelling vertebrates and song birds. You'd probably be shocked at how many animals your cats kill without your knowledge. Nature published a study quite a few years ago done in England on domestic cat predation. The numbers were staggering. A lot of towns are adopting ordinances against free roaming cats, which I fully support.