When out for my midday stroll today I came across this little fella. It's a slow worm, I haven't seen one of these in the wild since I was a kid! I remember back in the 70's my dad and I used to walk over the heath near to our house at the time and turn over bits of debris (usually corrugated iron sheets) to uncover these little creatures. I remember taking some home to keep in a shoe box for a little while, we used to feed them with ants eggs harvested from the same places. This specimen was wriggling around on the warm concrete pavement, probably warming up, so I felt obliged to pick it up an put it into the undergrowth out of danger. I must admit, I did experience a moment of anxiety as I couldn't remember if they "bit" or not, fortunately they don't, but they are incredibly slippery and wriggly, it took several attempts! From the look of her tail this one has had a few scrapes in the past, these creatures are notorious for being able to lose their tails to escape predators and then regrow them (the tail should be pointed), they are lizards after all and not snakes, even though they look like the latter!
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