Lancing Nature

Natrix natrix

Grass Snake

Lancing Manor Allotment
31 August 2003
Wikipedia: Grass Snake

The Grass Snake is Britain's largest native snake, typically reaching 60–90 cm, though females can exceed 1 m. It is easily identified by the distinctive yellow-and-black collar behind the head and its olive-green to grey-brown body with dark flank markings.

Note: This individual was found entangled in netting on the allotment. The netting was carefully cut away to free the snake unharmed — a timely reminder never to leave loose netting lying around, as it poses a serious hazard to snakes and other wildlife.

Grass Snakes are non-venomous and entirely harmless to humans. They are strongly associated with water and feed mainly on frogs, toads and newts. Females lay eggs — unusually for a British reptile — in warm decomposing material such as compost heaps. If threatened they may feign death (thanatosis) or release a foul-smelling musk.

Anguis fragilis

Slow Worm

19 July 2023
Photograph by Andy Munday

Despite its snake-like appearance the Slow Worm is a legless lizard — unlike snakes it has eyelids it can blink, a notched (not forked) tongue, and will shed its tail (autotomy) as a defence against predators. Adults grow to 30–50 cm.

Females are brown with dark sides; males are typically grey or coppery-brown, sometimes with blue spots. They give birth to live young, up to 12 per litter, in late summer.

Anguis fragilis

Slow Worm

Length: 30–50 cm
24 August 2003
Wikipedia: Slow Worm

Note: These individuals were found sheltering beneath wood debris on the Adur riverside at Shoreham. Slow Worms favour refuge sites such as logs, corrugated tin sheets and compost heaps where they bask in the warmth retained by the material. They are wholly protected under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981.

Their diet consists mainly of slow-moving prey — slugs, earthworms and small insects — making them a gardener's ally.