Tag: Natural History

  • Tailless Lizard

    We are often told how lizards can shed their tails to enable an escape, leaving a bemused hunter with just a wriggling bit of tail in their mouths or beaks. I’ve once or twice found the bits of tail, which have been discarded and not worthy of a meal, but I’ve never seen a lizard…

  • Versatile Squirrel

    I’ve always wondered how puffins sort the fish they catch so that they stick out of the sides of their beaks in that nice, orderly way. I just heard a bit of kerfuffling on the roof of my studio. This is usually either cats, squirrels or blackbirds looking for grubs in the leaf litter. A…

  • Pale Tussock Moth Caterpillar

    I found this Pale Tussock Moth Caterpillar in, would you believe it – a tussock, while tidying up the garden this afternoon. It’s wonderfully hairy and has a beautiful pink tail, the colour of a linnet’s chest. When it curls up to protect itself the spaces between the segments become very evident. The black marks…