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What our animals are doing this month…

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Written by Emma Byrne, Transforming Lives Trainee

July is a month full of activity for our reptile and amphibian friends! This month, let’s take a closer look at the UK’s only species of legless lizard, the slow worm, and see what they’re up to throughout this warm, summer month…

Slow worms emerge from hibernation in late March, with breeding taking place in April and May. The gestation period is around 11 – 14 weeks, so from July until September, slow worms are giving birth! They are ovoviviparous, which means that females incubate their eggs internally. The eggs hatch inside the slow worm’s body, and the young stay there living off the yolk of their egg. The female will then go on to give birth to between eight and twelve live young. Hatchlings are born still wrapped in their embryonic membranes, which burst open to reveal tiny slow worms, little more than four centimeters long. They can be identified by their gold or silver backs with a black stripe down the middle, a black dot on their head and glossy black sides.

Juvenile slow worm
Credit: Will Howells

If you hope to spot a slow worm, here are a few helpful tips:

  • Head out at dusk as this is when slow worms tend to be most active hunting for food.
  • Make a beeline for open woods, damp heaths, rough grassland and grassland and meadows with hedges and scrub.
  • If you prefer to stay closer to home – take a look in your garden. Be sure to keep a close eye on your compost heap, as slow worms like to use the warmth to heat up their bodies!
  • If you’re unsure whether you have a found a slow worm or a small snake, remember unlike snakes, slow worms have eyelids, small ear openings, their tail is detachable and they have notched tongues as opposed to forked tongues.

Always remember to record your amphibian and reptile sightings on our FREE Dragon Finder app.

What our animals are doing this month…

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Slow worms in the UK will spend autumn preparing for hibernation, foraging and feeding on slow-moving prey such as slugs. They will hibernate between November and March, but further North, slow worms will have retreated to their hibernation sites in mid-October. Keep an eye out incase you see any before they hibernate!

Slow worms are a type of legless lizard and are often mistaken for snakes.  However, unlike snakes they can blink as they have eyelids! They have a flat, forked tongue alongside the ability to drop their tails if attacked by predators. Slow worms are widespread throughout Britain but are absent from Ireland.

They can grow up to 40cm in length with males having larger heads and are usually shades of light to dark brown. Females have dark flanks and they can sometimes have a dorsal line along their body.

Always remember to record your amphibian and reptile sightings on our FREE Dragon Finder app. All of the data collected is sent to the National Biodiversity Network Atlas. You can download the app here.

Discovering Reptiles with Citizen Science

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Reptile conservation within the UK is currently facing a big challenge; the lack of data. To develop targeted and effective conservation strategies, it is essential to have sufficient data on the species you want to conserve. This presents a real problem for UK reptiles, as there is very little public data available. However, we can remedy this if more people are aware of our wonderful native reptiles, any and all sightings are recorded, and survey effort is increased across the UK.

Every single reptile sighting, whether it is a one-off chance encounter or a planned survey, provides a valuable data point. So, how can you turn your wildlife encounter into useable data? Well, we’ve made it quick and easy for you with our free Froglife Dragon Finder App! Whenever you spot a reptile (or amphibian!), simply record your sighting on the app there and then.

Photo © Tracy Farrer

If you are not sure you can ID the animal in front of you, not to worry. The app is full of information and ID tips to help. You can also select ‘Identify Species’ on the home page and you will be led through a series of questions to a final species ID. Download the app today for free, or find out more about it here! If you’re still unsure, try to take a photo or make a note of the animal’s appearance, and send this to mirran.trimble@froglife.org. Mirran is the Discovering Reptiles Project Officer, and she can help you identify any reptile sightings.

Citizen science is a key tool for collecting data and building the scientific knowledge needed to develop conservation strategies. For reptiles, citizen science has huge potential to make a real difference moving forward. If you know there are species in your garden, allotment or local green space, go find them and record your sightings! If you’d like to go a step further, we desperately need more people undertaking reptile surveys across the UK. These are straightforward to do and you can commit as much or little time as you have. To learn more about how to survey for reptiles, see our handy online guide here.

We can all do our bit to protect the UK’s native reptiles, and the Dragon Finder App has made it easier than ever to contribute! All sightings recorded on the Dragon Finder App will help us to build a more accurate picture of reptiles in the UK and develop appropriate conservation priorities. All recordings uploaded onto our app are also sent to the National Biodiversity Network and are publicly available.

What our animals are doing this month….

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May is an excellent time of year to look out for our native legless lizard, the slow-worm. Breeding takes place in May and this can be a dramatic process to witness. Not only do males compete aggressively over mates, but during courtship they will grasp the female roughly by the neck, and mating can then last for up to 10 hours! Courtship is easily mistaken for fighting, so being able to tell males and females apart can be helpful. Male slow-worms are grey or brown all over, and some have bright blue spots along the back. Females are usually brown on top with dark sides and belly, and a dark line down the back.

Slow-worms are a common garden species and the perfect gardener’s friend, as they love to eat garden pests such as slugs. They are particularly fond of compost heaps and warm hiding places such as log piles or under tin roofing, so these are good places to look for them. Despite their snake-like appearance, slow-worms can be distinguished from snakes by their shiny appearance, bullet-shaped heads, and blinking abilities (snakes lack eyelids!)

 

A pair of courting slow-worms (Photo: Lin Wenlock)

Tips to avoid waste when gardening

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Slow Worms can often be found in compost heaps. Photo Nick Meade
Photo Nick Meade

Sometimes saving money and being environmentally conscious go hand in hand. More people are getting into the habit of looking around for cheap electricity deals and are prepared to switch providers than in previous years. We are also becoming more aware of the impact of our lifestyles on energy consumption in the home and beyond. In the home, this translates into energy-saving practices such as turning off lights and appliances when not in use, washing clothes and dishes at lower temperatures and choosing energy efficient models when purchasing new appliances.

We are also becoming more conscious of the waste we throw away. Usually we think about food waste and packaging. There are many ways to reduce food waste, including meal planning and freezing meals, and with excess packaging we can vote with our feet to reward retailers that follow environmentally friendly policies. But what about our garden waste? Many people often think of garden waste as not really waste – after all, it’s all green, isn’t it? Surely it will just compost down somewhere. Green waste is not usually sent to landfill because it decomposes under anaerobic conditions – without oxygen – producing methane, a key contributor to global warming.

baby grass snake, LCB May11So councils usually encourage people to compost at home where they can, or take it to community recycling and composting schemes. Having a compost heap at home is not only a great way of getting rid of your garden waste but also provides a great habitat for slow worms and grass snakes who enjoy the warmer temperatures generated by the decomposing material.

In some areas green bins are provided, but with more councils starting to charge for green waste collection it can all add to household bills. Nearly a third of councils charge households for green bins, and the costs can be up to around £70. Charges are made to subsidise the cost of collection and composting. In some areas, garden waste can account for around a quarter of household waste, so it’s not an insignificant amount of material to be dealing with.

Wildflower gardenFortunately, there are several areas where we can cut back to reduce the amount of material that ends up in the green bin.  It’s understandable to want to tidy up grass cuttings after we’ve mown the lawn, but leaving them can not only save on our green waste but also provide nutrients for your lawn. The clippings will naturally begin to be absorbed after two days or so and the added nutrients will encourage thicker and healthier growth. Alternatively, you could consider a slower growing turf, allowing some areas of grass to grow longer to provide safer areas for wildlife to move through or even getting rid of your lawn completely and converting it to a wild flower meadow which will attract bees and encourage biodiversity.

Weed growth can be controlled by a number of different methods. You could try mulching, where a layer of material such as bark is spread over the top of soil. Pulling up weeds when they’re young is easier and they can just be left on top of the soil to dry out. You can also cut out the light weeds need by growing plants that give good ground cover.

Paying attention to your plants and their life cycles will help to reduce garden waste. Shrubs can typically be pruned just when the branches are young.  Prunings can be left in the garden as log piles to act as basking spots, shelter and attract food for reptiles. Putting plants in a place that is appropriate for them will cut back on the maintenance required to keep them in good condition. Choose slow growing species and dwarf and alpine plants that won’t create a lot of new growth. To provide the best amphibian and reptile habitats its’ vital to create a variety of plant heights.

 

Photo John Butter
Photo John Butter

What you can do:
• Find out more about wildlife friendly gardening
• Record sightings of amphibians and reptiles using our Dragon Finder App
• Report dead or diseased wildlife to the Garden Wildlife Health project

 

 

 

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