Poem Of The Week

I wandered lonely as a clod,
Just picking up old rags and bottles,
When onward on my way I plod,
I saw a host of axolotls;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
A sight to make a man’s blood freeze.

Some had handles, some were plain;
They came in blue, red pink, and green.
A few were orange in the main;
The damnedest sight I’ve ever seen.
The females gave a sprightly glance;
The male ones all wore knee-length pants.

Now oft, when on the couch I lie,
The doctor asks me what I see.
They flash upon my inward eye
And make me laugh in fiendish glee.
I find my solace then in bottles,
And I forget them axolotls.

[From ‘Mad Magazine’ 1958]

This poem is dedicated to nature-loving 10 year old Evie Hill from Leicester. Visiting Bridgend, Wales Evie and family were by the "Dipping Bridge" when she spotted something in the shadows. It was a Mexican Axolotl. Evie saw it had damage to its tail and stomach. She managed to catch it, and put it into a plastic tank. 

The family cut short their camper-van holiday and returned home with the creature. They sought expert advice and discovered they are allowed to keep the axolotl at home. 

"Dippy" now lives in a large tank. The National Centre For Reptile Welfare say Evie probably saved the creature's life. This is the first documented discovery of an axolotl living wild in the UK. There has been a surge in their popularity as pets, since they appeared in video games like Minecraft and Roblox - but the NCFRW says many people do not know how to keep them and discard them in rivers. These creatures are an endangered species, experts say there are less than 1000 globally. Here's a close up of Dippy - who is about 23cm long

Well done Evie, thank you for saving him ... and apologies to Wordsworth for the parody of his poem. [It is the only axolotl poem I know] I'm not sure I would have recognised it if I had been paddling in Wales [although I suspect Rosie would have done]