Soon after mating [refer August] the female fire bellied newts will begin to lay eggs, folding plants over and depositing the sticky jelly covered eggs singly to hold them together, thus  giving the eggs some protection. After a few weeks the developing young newts can be seen inside the egg capsules which they leave soon after. At this stage they cannot leave the water, similar to the tadpole stage of their amphibian cousins the frogs. At the base of the head they have feathery gills for underwater breathing which are lost when the newt matures and is able to leave the water and breath from the air.

Some twenty years ago two kauri snails [paraphanta busbyi] were introduced into the grounds of the Park. Over the years they have increased in numbers somewhat dramatically and are now are commonly found in in the Park grounds and  the neighbouring properties even crossing the road to inhabit land there. Nocturnal in habit they are sometimes found still wandering in the morning as the one pictured. They are unable to cope with the sun however, and can die from heat stress if not returned to a suitable spot before the day warms up. Kauri snails are carnivores feeding mainly on earthworms, but have been found here eating other snails and I have had a report of one eating a weta. The one featured has a shell measuring 60mm across from front to back.

       One morning this leopard gecko was found with at first glance appeared to the hind legs of a cricket protruding from its mouth. Closer inspection revealed that they were the appendages at the back end of a reasonably sized centipede. Although it looked uncomfortable and hoping perhaps that it had swallowed only a portion of the centipede it was decided to allow the gecko the chance to digest it rather than attempt to manually withdraw it and risk internal damage. However over night it managed to regurgitate its rather ambitious and dangerous meal and seemed to suffer no ill effects. Centipedes are common in the Park grounds and as they can be predatory to lizards we endeavour to exclude them from the enclosures. If the gecko had not been able to get the upper hand [we are still wondering how it was able to] the centipede would have quite capable of killing it and using it for food.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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