Slow worm

[Dave W]

Spotted this chap in my garden last weekend.Anyone know what it is?.I think it's a Slow worm,but I might be wrong.It was about 30cm long.

[Guest]

Yes, you're spot on

Strange creatures, a lizard without legs

[stona]

A female slow worm. I used to catch them as a nipper but my mum made me put them back where I'd found them.

She'll help keep the slugs and snails down in your garden. Soon she'll be digging in and hibernating for the winter.

Steve

[Guest]

Definitly Anguis fragilis, the slow worm. I'd like to say female as well regarding the general look in your photos, i don't see the typical "pronounced" dorsal stripe but the heads more slender compared to the neck as it would be if female, as it's not fully grown at 30cm (average 45-50cm) the adult patternation may be muted at present.

Keeping reptiles (and arachnids) has been a hobby of mine since 1971 and myself and my partner keep and breed mainly pythons, I used to do some volunteer work with the British Herpetological Society back in the 80's where we'd go out on field trips and catch, measure, weigh and give British reptiles a general MOT before releasing them. i'm blessed enough to have found every species of reptile we have on this island ..including the Smooth snake, Coronella austriaca, which i found in Surry, that was a great day. Being tagged by an Adder on two other occasions is a different story

We've given workshops for groups of kids from all over Scotland (organised through my partners parents church) in the last few years, we take a load of snakes, tarantulas, scorpions etc and i give a brief insight on each, then have a bit of a handling session with a couple of our calmer Royal pythons .. the kids love it

[Guest]

How many species of British reptiles are there Colin?

[Guest]

There's 6 Reptiles and 6 Amphibians indigenous/native/naturally occuring.

Scientific evidence states that there was a 7th specie of Amphibian, the Pool Frog (Pelophylax lessonae) that once inhabited East Anglia.

UK Reptiles are .....

Grass Snake: Natrix natrix

Smooth snake: Coronella austriaca

Common adder/viper: Vipera berus

Sand lizard: Lacerta agilis

Viviporous lizard: Lacerta vivipara

Slow worm: Anguis fragilis

If there's been any taxonomical changes to the scientific names in the last 6 months, i appologise, i haven't accessed any herpetofauna documentation lately.

[stona]

Thanks Colin,very interesting. It's always handy to have someone who really knows what they're talking about onboard

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Yes, thanks for that

I didn't realise there are so many

[Guest]

Similar subject creatures. Discovered two toads in our very small pond in April/May. Little one on the big ones back. Then in hours this great big necklace of looked like a plastic bag with lots of spawn appeared.

Turned to tadpoles in time which then became very very little toads which emigrated to around the pond. They lived happily with our 10 little fishes. Some of the mini toads are brown some are black. They are now about the size of a twenty p coin.

They wizz about like dodgem cars. Jump & hop from stone to stone fascinating. Their paws, is that correct ?, & limbs are perfectly formed just little things of nature's beauty. Difficult to imagine how such a small thing which is so agile & finished in development (except for size) can exist. How many will survive but there still seems to be a lot of them.

Laurie

[Guest]

Was the spawn in a "mass" or "clump" when laid or in long single "strings" Laurie ??

I only ask as you say the youngsters "wizz" around in the pond and "hop" from stone to stone they sound more like frogs, as toads are a lazy creature and just walk everywhere (frogs cannot "walk" as their pelvis wont allow the motion)

You have a frog there called the Agile frog (Rana dalmatina) thats not found on this mainland, if you get a photo then i could give you a 80% positive ID (due to their size) .... I only ask coz i think they're awesome little creatures (sad i know ).

[Guest]

Here goes Colin

As they say or Michael Caine did or not "not many people know that".

Yes we only have one frog (except for a few hundred two legged of the species from France ) the bufo bufo I believe.

The spawn from memory was I am reasonably sure was in strings Colin. Will try to get a photo but they are so small that is difficult. They also walk as well as jump so that gives a clue. They look just something when walking or sitting with their legs a kimbo & outstretched their full length.

Silly people next door found one full grown on their pavings (whole garden is paved) & took it over the road & put it in the field. Not to worry they are soon going to be invaded. Ha ha.

Of interest the Guernsey People (Donkeys) refer to Jersey people as Crappos (Crapaud in French). In St Helier this is a sculpture about 8 feet across on a pole in the main street. Always thought it a Toad but now must find out as it may be the Frog.

Laurie

[Guest]

If they can move their back legs independently of each other then they're toads Laurie

You have (natively) Bufo Bufo, the common toad and the Agile frog (Rana dalmatina)

The Common frog (Rana temporaria) is native to Guernsey

Obviously species diversion is common now we have so many people crossing from island to island ... stowaways happen so species can appear in their non native lands.

i.e. we have Wallabies and Coypu in Derbyshire, there is another crayfish abundant here (from USA), we have a population of british scorpion native around docklands, and some tasty "redback" varients of "widow" species of spider speckled around the UK

The Jersey-French name for a toad is Crapaud (i had to look that up )

[Andy2035]

This is also one of the other reason's I like it in here, we get to learn a lot more than just about modelling...

Going to the "Redback" things you mention, are they as bad as the 'real' ones (yes i am one of the ones who is not too keen on the eight legged things), the strangest ones I have seen are the Woodlice Spiders, scared the pap out of me...

I do seem to get rather a lot of these, scooting about, some bigger than this one...: -

[Guest]

Male Tegenaria duellica (used to be known as T. gigantea ... for obvious reasons)

standard house spider, the males get very leggy and large when they mature so they can traverse long distances to get to females (and make a hasty break for it when they've finished mating ... yes its true, the males can become food for the female just after mating, but it's not all the time as myth often states)

You can tell its a mature male by looking at the little "legs" just next to its mouthparts .. these have a large ball on the end when they mature, these are called pedipalps (or palpal bulbs) these are the male spiders sexual organs which contain the sperm which it has transfered from dedicated spinnerettes on it's underside.

Sorry to go off on a geeky moment there ......

*edit* sorry didn't answer your redback bit.

The species of the Latrodectus genus (widow spiders) that have made it over here have been found to be able to mate with some of our Steatoda genus (false widows) that we have over here natively, the hybrids can survive here and have a tasty bite (if they get through the skin) but it's not life threatoning unless you are allergic and suffer anaphylatic shock.

[Guest]

Thanks Colin. Yes studied 2 this morning they waddle from one back leg to the other. Just cannot get over how small their limbs are & so perfectly formed.

Printing your picture Andy twice the size & putting it my youngest son's room for when he returns tonight. He just loves spiders ! NOT. Hell I am a rotten parent but then he is thirty--- odd years old.

He has a spider trap thing for removing spiders from his room.

Thinks would he like a toad in his bedroom !

Laurie