 |
|
|
slow worm: |
| Author | Message |
|
caz2004 Member Joined: 16 May 2004 No. of posts: 2  View other posts by caz2004 |
Posted: 16 May 2004 hi. just found your website by checking it out for something i saw in my garden in Reading! i saw a slow worm-yes, i did think it was a snake! regardless of what it was called, it was beautiful and i feel quite privilaged to have seen him. he was a male, older than 3 as there was no black stripe. who else has seen one? |
|
Alan Hyde Senior Member Joined: 17 Apr 2003 No. of posts: 1416 View other posts by Alan Hyde |
Posted: 16 May 2004 Hi caz , welcome. I'm pleased to read of your find , nice one! And it's so refreshing to hear from someone that realises how privaliged we are to share this planet with these creatures. Slow-worms are quite common , and if you wish to see more look on heathland under sheets of tin. Cheers, Alan O-> O+> |
|
GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090  View other posts by GemmaJF |
Posted: 16 May 2004 I've just posted about going loopy today after seeing a viviparuous lizard and small newt species in the garden. I'll let you know if we get a slow-worm - though I see quite a few reptiles doing surveys, a slow-worm in our own garden will thrill me to bits too! A piece of roofing felt left in an area of the garden that gets plenty of sun, but is nicely overgrown might reveal a few more slow-worms in your garden. Check it about mid morning and mid afternoon, there may be some sat under it enjoying the heat after a few days. Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant |
|
Alan Hyde Senior Member Joined: 17 Apr 2003 No. of posts: 1416 View other posts by Alan Hyde |
Posted: 17 May 2004 Cool Stuff Gemma , you're lucky. Unfortunately where I live it's very unlikely I'd get Slow-worms or lizards in the garden . :¼( Alan O-> O+> |
|
caz2004 Member Joined: 16 May 2004 No. of posts: 2 View other posts by caz2004 |
Posted: 17 May 2004 thanks gemma and alan for your replies. i will try the felt in the garden and see what happens. i must be honest though-it wasnt actually me who found the slow worm, it was my curious cat smuggly! he was staring intently at something so i went to investigate. i couldnt see anything at first and thought he must be ant-watching! when the slow worm moved im not sure who jumped the highest!! smuggly is now being supervised constantly and closely! thanks again guys, caz. |
|
GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090 View other posts by GemmaJF |
Posted: 17 May 2004 Well Al I have to say after living in London for years it's a bit like waking up to heaven each day! We're in a very rural part of Essex and I wasn't expecting colinisation this quickly, but we do have connectivity along the side of a vast arable field to an old school, now a classic brown field site, so I guess that's where our lizard came from. As for the newt, I'm sure she must have been in the garden already to have found the pond so quickly. Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant |
|
Moderator Admin Group Joined: 14 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 21 View other posts by Moderator |
Posted: 17 May 2004 Alan It's all down to Gemma's mad accountant :) Moderator |
|
Alan Hyde Senior Member Joined: 17 Apr 2003 No. of posts: 1416 View other posts by Alan Hyde |
Posted: 17 May 2004 Hi Gemma , Mervyn . Mervyn : Mad? LOL! I asked the funny little people that live in the bushes at the end of my garden , and they said " Mervyn is not mad," ;¼) Gemma: Ahh yes ! I can totaly relate . How I long to wake in the morning to just birdsong . Still , Not long now . Sarah tells me we can afford to move rural in just under two years , Yeeeees!!! Then comes the compost heap , the big pond , the heathers, the sheets of tin , the the the ,, Yeah , i'm excited :¼)!!! O-> O+> |
|
GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090 View other posts by GemmaJF |
Posted: 17 May 2004 Trust me Al, whatever the little people in the bushes tell you, he is mad. Then again it was me poised at the edge of a pond this evening, net in hand for 20 minutes....waiting... waiting ... and then... yes... got it in one.. it's a Smooth Newt by the way, big old gal too. So we are both mad, oh well :0). Saw a lovely little juvenile grassy today too under tin, awww cutest thing I've seen since 'Charlie' the neo adder last October :0) PS grassy wasn't in the garden but at 'work', lifes good eh Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant |
|
Alan Hyde Senior Member Joined: 17 Apr 2003 No. of posts: 1416 View other posts by Alan Hyde |
Posted: 18 May 2004 Hi Gemma! :¼) Oh yes life is good indeed! Congrats on finding your Juv' grassy , and smooth newt , faaantastic! LOL! You and Meryn sound just like me and Sarah . But as Mr D. Bowie once sang ,"I'd rather stay here with all the madmen , for i'm quite content they're all as sane as me" ;¼)hehehe. But , back on topic, Smooth Newts, Do you know how they adjust to relocation? I have a Lady friend round the school that has an Amphibian phobia . She has a pond full of newts and I wondered how they'd do if I moved them to my pond. Any ideas? Cheers, Al O-> O+> |
|
Mervyn Admin Group Joined: 14 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 41 View other posts by Mervyn |
Posted: 18 May 2004 Oh nooooooo
not more DB ((:
Mervyn J. COTTENDEN, CPA |
|
GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090 View other posts by GemmaJF |
Posted: 18 May 2004
....Than perish with the sadmen roaming free And I'd rather play here With all the madmen For I'm quite content they're all as sane As me...... LOL, Merv hates Bowie by the way.. Regarding the potential translocation; If you have good terrestrial habitat/hibernation opportunity in or around the garden I would recon you have a fair chance. The truth is so little follow up work is done on translocations of any species of herp, there isn't much to go on. At least your potential translocation would be monitored Al. Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant |
|
Alan Hyde Senior Member Joined: 17 Apr 2003 No. of posts: 1416 View other posts by Alan Hyde |
Posted: 18 May 2004 ...Zane Zane Zane ouvre le chien :¼) LOL! Sorry Mervyn , I did tthink by your post that you were not a fan Tch Tch ;¼) Thanks for the advice Gemma , I will give it a shot I think. 'After all, I will treat them gently , cause they don't like to fall" :¼) Ok , enough of that , hehe. I already have a few newts that turn up in and around my pond , so it must be ok for them . If and when it happens i'll send you some pics . Thanks, Al O-> O+> |
|
GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090 View other posts by GemmaJF |
Posted: 18 May 2004 Oh by jingo...enought of this, this thread was supposed to be about slow-worms :0) Which I saw 18 of today including a nice blue spotted one, but none in the garden yet. Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant |
|
Alan Hyde Senior Member Joined: 17 Apr 2003 No. of posts: 1416 View other posts by Alan Hyde |
Posted: 18 May 2004 :¼) 18 slowys!? , very nice, any pics? Alan O-> O+> |
- slow worm |