| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Razee |
Posted - 13/02/2015 : 19:07:47
Last weekend, hubby and myself went for a walk on the local heathland. It's a nature reserve, with adders, grass snakes and lizards among others.
Although it was cold, it was sunny, and the ground was surprisingly warm. I was hoping to see an adder - found traces that they may have been out already - fresh tunnel made from a hibernaculum, little tunnels and small round depressions where they may have been basking.
Then - I found an egg! Just one, on its own, in the middle of undergrowth.Leathery shell, size about of a corn snake egg. I know adders are live bearers, so could it have been a grass snake egg?
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| 11 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Kellog |
Posted - 02/03/2015 : 08:33:39
What a find  . And it's interesting that the experts can be fooled just like the rest of us  .
Xxx
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| AcidicAngel |
Posted - 28/02/2015 : 00:58:34
Oak Eggars are amazing! I saw a caterpillar in Wales in 2013 and it was pretty big compared to Cabbage Whites lol. Wish I'd got a comparison photo(well, apart from the grass) but I was unsure whether it was genuinely fluffy or if they were spines so decided to look but not touch.
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| Razee |
Posted - 27/02/2015 : 19:47:51
Update - one of my colleagues found out, what it was, and it is..... ( insert 10 seconds silence, like on Mastercheff , lol ) - oak eggar moth larvae! So, Wheels was right :-)
Apparently, they are quite common, and he has send me a picture of exactly the same " egg" with a chrysalis inside. He said he got caught out like that himself, he'd found an "egg ", on an island where there were known to be no reptiles, and was telling everyone there must be some, as he'd found a reptile egg. It really is quite convincing, so I don't feel like a complete and total plonker ( well, not too much, anyway ), lol. |
| Razee |
Posted - 25/02/2015 : 18:44:13
Congrats, Wheels, you've hatched :-)
We still don't know what it was... moth, butterfly, or a beetle.... I left it at work for the scientists to find out, we just have to wait for ones that are into entomology to see it. If I ever find out, I'll let you know :-) |
| Wheels |
Posted - 25/02/2015 : 17:09:53
ohhhhhh, isn't that appropriate, I just moved from an Egg to a Hatchling  |
| Wheels |
Posted - 25/02/2015 : 17:09:10
Could it have been a butterfly chrysalis? Strange time of year, but with the changeable weather....or even one that failed to emerge last year. Maybe it was knocked off the leaf or the leaf was pruned? I think they are - or can be - leathery....
Fascinating stuff though, bet my son would love something like that for show and tell but not so sure his teacher would be as keen  |
| scottishbluebird |
Posted - 25/02/2015 : 15:09:21
wow that is still quite big! interesting to find out what it was though |
| Razee |
Posted - 24/02/2015 : 20:31:52
Ok - update! I took the "egg" to work - and we have opened it! And - it wasn't a snake egg at all - it was a pupa - there was a half developed " something " inside ( dead, possibly frozen ). After doing some research on internet, we agreed it was most likely some kind of beetle. What we couldn't understand was the leathery shell around the actual pupa...and also, that it was found in the open. I was told it was perhaps dug up by some animal, then carried off and dropped. So, no snake egg at all... |
| Razee |
Posted - 16/02/2015 : 19:21:08
No - I'm pretty sure it was long dead, when I found it- otherwise I would not have even picked it up ( if it IS an egg, not sure now, as not collapsed at all ) . It was on a very dry, open and exposed place in the undergrowth, it had been a very heavy frost overnight, plus it has got black moulds on the other side of it...
I was thinking about opening it up, but I'm sort of scared what I'd find inside. :-0 |
| scottishbluebird |
Posted - 14/02/2015 : 14:32:54
Have you candled it to see if a slug or not? |
| ScalySituation |
Posted - 13/02/2015 : 20:21:21
Looks like it to me, hope you put it back! |
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