"Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and caldron bubble" - Kildare wildlife's links with Halloween

This week, young people in our communities will dress as witches, ghosts and all things spooky as they celebrate Halloween.

Many of Ireland’s wildlife are associated with Halloween including spiders, bats, owls, frogs and toads. Ireland has one native species of toad, the Natterjack Toad (Cnádán as Gaeilge), which is confined to Counties Kerry and Wexford.

It has a bright yellow stripe down the middle of its back, warty skin, and relatively short legs. Unlike frogs, they do not hop but run. The Common Frog (Loscann as Gaeilge) has strong back legs for hopping. Similar to toads, they lay their eggs in water, they have a long sticky tongue, which it can stick out to catch prey and they can change their skin colour darker or lighter, depending on their surrounding environment.

Why are frogs and toads associated with Halloween? Well I am sure you have all heard of ‘witches brew’, made famous by William Shapespeare in Macbeth when a toad is added as an ingredient. The toads skin also gives off a toxin to help warn off predators, which in folklore is said to give warts to one’s skin from a simple touch. Ireland has nine species of native bat. They have great hearing, but as they are nocturnal, they use echolocation to help them navigate between trees and buildings in the dark.

Their connection to Halloween is rooted in Samhain when bonfires were lit. The light of the bonfire attracted insects, which of course is the main food source of bats. Bats would be seen flying over the bonfires feeding and were linked to spirits and the supernatural from then on.

Ireland has three regular owl (ulchabhán as Gaeilge) species - two are resident, while the third is migratory. Similar to bats, their nocturnal and silent flight along with their hauntng ‘screeching’ calls are once again linked to the Celtic Samhain festival. The image this week is of the raft spider, Ireland’s largest spider.

The angle of the picture makes it a spooky looking invertebrate, with its Halloween association coming from its delicate and intricate web patterns, which are associated with witches spells!

- Nuala Madigan, The Irish Peatland Council of Ireland, Lullymore, Rathangan