Never seen one alive before!

Was moving/clearing some wood from my allotment and nearly stood on him!

Was amazed as how thick they were, for some reason I always thought they were as thin as a pencil, but this one was thick as my thumb!

Not the best of pics, camera phone.

Decided to leave the wood and he scurried quickly back under cover, not that slow either 😉

Well chuffed, what an amazing lizard, sorry just thought I would share it 😉

cool, well spotted

I hope he gets fill of slugs 😉

They are lovely, aren’t they?

Ours is called Selina and lives in the compost heap.
She survived winter ‘cos we saw her again a fortnight ago.

:o)

My cat and chickens quite like slow worms 😕

Saw my first last week…..dog just walked over it.

Amazed how chubby it was!

I’ve seen loads of slow worms since getting an allotment – good news as apparently their numbers seem to be declining in the UK. They like manure heaps and I also had a couple living in a compost bin.

chickens eat slow-worms? that surprises me, i thought theyd be too big

I take it they are protected?

This one will have quite a area to hunt slugs as my plot is in the middle of a large allotment site.

I used to have a pet one, called Speedy. Used to see them all the time when I was growing up near Fort William. Not seen one for some time.

We have a problem trying to avoid shredding them with the lawnmower. Never see them in time.

Thats classed as a worm!!!!

Its a blooming snake. I would be running like a girl i tells thee

They are protected in the UK.

Trailmonkey, I know what you mean, I’ve chopped one in half with a spade before – felt gutted. They like to hide in suntraps – apparently if you put a bit of black plastic or sheet metal in a corner of the garden they will tend to lurk under there instead of roaming around too much.

Ours is back too 🙂 Cute in’t she 🙂

How bizarre..saw one today. Was quite big….

Compost heaps seem to be the place to find them!

Blimey thats a snake reminds me of the time i was walking in a forest in Snowdon with the girlfriend and she said what about adders biting me on the ankles, i said oh theres no adders its to cold/ early in the year . walked round the corner and there was a bloody bigger adder in the path, fortunatley she never listens to me anyway. just thought id share that with you. Ohh look a slow worm 🙂

It never rains but it pours![/i]

Just seen another one on my plot!

This one was much smaller, more like the pencil size I expected them to be.

I thought they were classed as a lizard, not a snake?

Something to do with having eyelids and other things none snake related?

Well at least I know where to chuck all the slugs now 😉

Yup, they’re lizards not snakes. Something to do with their skeletons having the clear remnants of legs and hips/joints etc whereas snakes developed without these from the start.

And definitely protects – not even allowed to disturb their habitat, let alone injure one. Not sure how they’d prove you did though, but nevertheless they’re pretty rare.

Our cats keeping bringing them as gifts. they make a whole song-and -dance about it.

We have at least four in our garden of varying sizes and different colours.

It’s great to see so many being found and hopefully preserved in gardens.

Managed to avoid running one over the other week by lifting my front wheel at the last moment – was worried I’d hit it but no squished bits. If it hadn’t been so well camouflaged I’d have seen it earlier….

Nice one – always great to see. Had to move ours on in case the neighbours thought ‘oooh, snake’ and killed them (long story). Hope they survived the move (there were babies and adults: just babies here)…

JulianA – That’s so cute.

Yeah, they were! Really really hope they survived the move. Had to do it. We checked out with Hampshire Wildlife Trust about moving them and they said it was OK…

Will everybody stop seeing Slow worms! I’m 52 & I’ve never seen one yet! Seen a few Adders but no Woims.

Saw my first adder last weekend on Mendip. Nearly trod on the bugger in a area of cleared brash. I only noticed it cause it shot of at a right old pace and scared the bejesus out of me!

I’d only seen them static before, I was entirely unprepared scary rasping sound it made as it beat a hasty retreat at slither factor 8. I was a good size one though.

Fantastic.
Always wanted to see one but never have.

cool arn,t they
i,ll try and dig out some photos of the lizards that i get in my garden.
i live right next to an overgrown orchard thats never touched and the wander in amazing to see and rare.

Yep my family of slowworm live in the compost heap – which does mean I have to turn it by hand and later in the year so any eggs may have hatched.

Only seen a baby adder (alive) almost ran over it, but it got the right hump when I tried to shift it off the trail. I let it be – I’m not arguing with something with venom.

I have loads of these in my garden-I have to be careful when mowing my lawn etc!

yep legless lizard (not snake) beautiful movement.

Do they bite?

I’m not picking it up but wear boots doing the lawn.

Protected species-don’t kill them!

Do they bite?

They sometimes try to but you can’t really feel anything. I find the tight curling up around your fingers more unsettling.