Originally published on Photoblog by Gethin Thomas SEPTEMBER. 17, 2020
If you are not familiar with British reptiles you probably think this is a snake, but you would be wrong. Anguis fragilis is not a worm either. Despite appearances, the slow worm is actually a legless lizard- its identity is given away by its abilities to shed its tail and blink with its eyelids.
This one is a female denoted by the stripe along her back. In fact we are lucky to have her as they are killed by cats and we have at least one feline visitor through the garden. Like other reptiles, slow worms hibernate, usually from October to March, so she will soon be hiding away somewhere until next year.
Britain only has three snakes anyway and Ireland has none. Ours are the Adder, the Grass Snake and the Smooth Snake. Our other two lizards are the Common Lizard and the Sand Lizard. So reptiles are fairly uncommon generally.
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