(Untitled)

[bagma]

Today I found

Comments

[claudia603]

That's a big worm!!

[bagma]

I'd have fainted if it had really been a worm! I can't stand worms. I have no problem with spiders, even the biggest ones, but I feel nauseated just looking at a maggot.

*shudders*

The English name is a little misleading; in French they are called orvets. They aren't worms but limbless lizards, and like the other lizards they are able to shed their tail if they are caught.

[pinkymouse1988]

I've never heard of a slow worm before-he really looks like a snake-hope he helps with your garden vegetables!

[bagma]

Apparently slow worms only live in Europa, so I guess that's why you've never heard of them. They superficially look like snakes, but they are limbless lizards, actually.

hope he helps with your garden vegetables!

I hope so! There's a lot of slugs in my garden, but I'm reluctant to kill them. I'm not opposed to the idea of letting nature takes its course, though.:)

[addie71]

I can see why you thought it was a snake at first. Hope he's moving in and not out.

[bagma]

She (it seems it's a female) is definitely moving in: I saw her again yesterday.:)

[annwyn55]

Cool! I hope you can encourage him to patrol your garden - putting out warmth collectors (metal lids, black plastic) that he can hide under.

I saw a video once - a cat toying with/killing a slow worm. Needlessly cruel, and quite upsetting. :(

[bagma]

There's a lot of hidden spots in my garden, and I never use chemical weed-killers or insecticides, so I hope she (it'd appear it's a female) will feel at home.:)

I know cats are hunters by nature, but I don't like to see them in action. When I still had cats, I used to interpose myself between them and their prey. They hated that, but their hatred would abate when they'd see me put food in their bowl. Self-interested little creatures!:)

[julchen11]

I watched a slow worm in my garden yesterday, amazing, aren't they? And really really warm ...
Thanks for the pictures, my dear!

[bagma]

They are strange creatures indeed; limbless viviparous lizards... That almost sounds like a joke. And they are so helpless that it's amazing the species isn't extinct by now.:)