2005 - Whitby Naturalists

undisturbed or unridy parts of the garden such as an r:ld-fashioned
ssmpost heap or wood pilc. Skrw worms' prey includes smali slugs :rnd
they do no damage to thc garden and are of course non-poison6us. I
h:rve ireard tl-r:rt, as they are caten bv hedgehogs, You wiii not have both
in your garden at tftc samc tiine. I wouid be glad if any one couid
confirm or deny this. They are r:ften beautifully coloured, brown,
copper or gold and very shiny. The young have iongitudinal dark
srripes along the sides of their body, which femaies oftel keep into
adulthood. I had the misfortune to injure a slow worill oncc with the
iawn mower arid I felt a terriblc sensc of dcsclation to see its coiours
and brightness fade as it diecl"
The common of viviparous lizard (laccna viwipara) is widcsprcrd on
the rnocrrs in our area but is iess likely to be for-rnd in girrdens' They are
srnali (only about 6 inches or less) and vely secretive as well as fast' so
rhat often only one pefson of the party on a waik will catch a fleeting
giimpse. Their colour and pattern is variable. Most animatrs are
basicallv brown but occasional individuals arc yellclw or greenish or
black. The young are always dark brown. C)ccasionally people mistake
a newt in its dry phase for a common lizard btrt, so long as you are
carcfui of that mistake, if you report "a ltzard" (unless it is a young
escaped crocodile) I wiil log it as iaccrta vivipara.
The adder (viperaberus) is kn6wn ro inhabit the moors and I think we
are priviieged to havc it. I will not describe it as it is so weil kno"rryt
exccpt to say that wiriie the textbooks say it is up toZ feet long most of
the oncs I have seen are srnaller than that. 'fhey yery rarely come into
gardens and although they are poisonous they seldom bite humans.
The grass snake (nrttrix ntttrix) is the only other native snake but it is
said to be rare norlh of the Midlands" I have never seen one in the wild.
It is larger than the addcr (dependlng on age of course) and spenrJs
rnost of its time in or around water. it is not poisonous and its favourite
prcy specics are frcrgs and toads. It is very fast moving and you are
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