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Natural History/Field Observation Field observations of corn snakes, field collecting, or just general topics about the natural environment they are found in.

British lizard
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Old 07-18-2006, 01:20 PM   #1
Swirlything
British lizard

Well, since i'm new, (and I've been drooling over all *your* photos) thought I might as well contribute something.

Here's an old photo of what I believe is a Common Lizard (apologies for the blurry picture, and if i got the species wrong) which I found several years ago sitting on the pavement in my street. Thought it was a piece of twig until i looked more closely! Don't know what he /she was doing there- it's unusual to see reptiles where i live, but he'd lost his tail and was not looking too happy so I picked him up and took him home before he got stepped on/run over.



at the time we had a large overgrown garden so I released the lizard there fter keeping an eye on it for a while. Unfortunately though I found it dead a few weeks later, so possibly he had injuries apart from the tail or was picked off by a cat or bird.

Later though I had more luck with an equally cute lizard which a friend's cat had attacked. It had lost its tail and had a cut under one eye. I kept it until it had healed and the tail had grown back, then released it in some local countryside with plenty of insects around.

Unfortunately the crickets I fed it escaped and decided to move into the airing cupboard.....

Chirp, chirp.
 
Old 07-20-2006, 06:23 AM   #2
diamondlil
Lovely! I haven't any pics but usually see a few common lizards and slow worms every year. There is some chalk downland nearby that suports a small population of both. I get totally overexcited about them still
 
Old 07-20-2006, 07:34 AM   #3
colinmcc
Quote:
Originally Posted by Swirlything
Unfortunately the crickets I fed it escaped and decided to move into the airing cupboard.....

Chirp, chirp.
Ha ha ha ha ha ..... love it!
 
Old 07-21-2006, 09:33 AM   #4
Swirlything
Quote:
Originally Posted by diamondlil
Lovely! I haven't any pics but usually see a few common lizards and slow worms every year. There is some chalk downland nearby that suports a small population of both. I get totally overexcited about them still
I've been lucky enough to see a few slow worms. One was a really beautiful coppery pink colour, never seen anything like that before! Didn't have a camera on me though. Typical.
And the bit of land it was living in- like everything else in Wales- is now covered in nasty Barratt houses *sigh*
 
Old 07-21-2006, 12:53 PM   #5
diamondlil
There's an old stone wall that is brilliant for catching lizards. (I'm old enough to remember before they were protected, you could buy them in the local petshop)
We used to catch them with a noose made out of a hollow grass stem, with a thinner piece of grass threaded through. wait by a hole and slip it over a lizard's head, hey presto lizard caught and doesn't drop its' tail. When my boys were small I showed them this trick, and got the biggest slowie I ever saw by mistake as she came out of a hole. She was a gravid female with bold stripes, really fat and full of babies.
Now they're older the boys think my animal catching skills and interests are a bit embarrassing but at that time they thought I was some combination of David Attenborough and Ray Mears
 
Old 07-22-2006, 01:13 PM   #6
Wintermute
What a great find!

I've never seen a reptile in the wild here in the UK, although whenever I walk my dog I'm always on the lookout near marshes and streams for grass snakes, as I was told this was the type of habitat they like. I think I'm too far north here in Aberdeen, but I've met a few people who claim to have seen adders in the Highlands while hill walking.

By the way, is it true that there are no snakes in Ireland, or is it just a silly legend?
 
Old 07-23-2006, 05:58 AM   #7
Plissken
Quote:
Originally Posted by Swirlything
I've been lucky enough to see a few slow worms. One was a really beautiful coppery pink colour, never seen anything like that before! Didn't have a camera on me though. Typical.
And the bit of land it was living in- like everything else in Wales- is now covered in nasty Barratt houses *sigh*
Slow worms nest in my garden. We've had them for years. I must have seen hundreds of them, and I just love them.

I've seen five of the British reptiles. The only one remaining is the smooth snake.
 
Old 07-23-2006, 08:12 AM   #8
~slither~
I watched a program on british snakes the other day, and it said that the smooth snake is super rare. They couldn't find one even for the show.
Good luck with finding one Plissken, I think you'll need it!
 
Old 07-23-2006, 10:24 AM   #9
Swirlything
Quote:
Originally Posted by diamondlil
Now they're older the boys think my animal catching skills and interests are a bit embarrassing but at that time they thought I was some combination of David Attenborough and Ray Mears
Hehe, I know that feeling... being really into wildlife of all sorts (especially reptiles, spiders and insects) i often can't stop myself pointing out things to friends- 'oh! look at that *insert creature here*, hey, what's it doing? Nice markings!', which was sort of cool when I was ten, but now usually gets me a chorus of 'eww! disgusting!' -s.

I've only ever seen the two lizards and the slow worms in the wild. I -did- see a baby slow worm in the garden once, but it had died before I noticed it- the poor thing got onto some hot concrete and baked
Haven't been lucky enough to spot any snakes, but I can't resist looking.

And, hmm.... Wintermute, I think it's true there aren't any snakes in Ireland
 
Old 07-23-2006, 06:49 PM   #10
SnakeAround
Can someone post me a pic of a slow worm? I have no idea what it looks like what so ever... tnx!
 

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