An Unusually Large Smooth Newt. Who wrote this letter in 1977?

UNUSUALLY LARGE SMOOTH NEWT

Dear Sir,

On the 18th October, 1977, I acquired a Common or Smooth newt of exceptional size, it measures 101 millimetres from head to tail, and was found in a suburban area of Southampton.

In the past I have had many newts of such species, but never one so large.

Malcolm Smith gives in his "New Naturalists" book the maximum length for a four year old female smooth newt as being 97 millimetres.

The newt I have came from a small fish pond in a back garden, where there were many such newts, but of smaller size.

The grid reference is Map SU41/51 lat. 142 Long. 444. I would be very grateful if you would tell me if this specimen is the longest reported.

Yours faithfully,

C.G. Packham

The letter appeared in the Newsletter of the British Herpetological Society, December 1977.

C.G. Packham is of course the BBC wildlife presenter, Christopher Gary Packham, then aged 16.