# Slowworms in the wild



## SnakeBreeder

Just a few photos of a trip down by Doncaster when my son and I found a few Slowworm.
After the photos each one was released next to the rock it was found under.


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## FishForLife2001

Mind me asking where this is? It is a bit of a travel to the Doncaster area but not hugely far...wild reptiles don't seem to be a thing in North Lincolnshire! 



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## SnakeBreeder

FishForLife2001 said:


> Mind me asking where this is? It is a bit of a travel to the Doncaster area but not hugely far...wild reptiles don't seem to be a thing in North Lincolnshire!
> Sent from my 9001X using Tapatalk


Sorry I was sworn to secrecy by the forestry worker that let me know about it in the first place.
Fortunately it is on private land so should be safe.
He showed me several place in the north but sadly most no longer have any reptiles.
There was a great place outside Rothbury, for seeing adders, but sadly someone set fire to the vegetation and destroyed the habitat. I've not heard of any there for over a decade!


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## stingray

i live next to a railway and lizards and sloworms come into my back garden every year....


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## el Snappo

SnakeBreeder said:


> There was a great place outside Rothbury, for seeing adders, but sadly someone set fire to the vegetation and destroyed the habitat. I've not heard of any there for over a decade!


God, that's _so_ bloody depressing! 

I knew a place, once. _Crawling _with toads. Plenty of Slow worms too. Well, pretty much Everything, really. Loads of ditches full of green water and everything going mad among it all. 

Right next to an A Road. It was, basically, an area of wild land where they'd dumped all the mud they'd dredged up, to make the road. Absolute wonderland, for years.

Then, some bright spark decided it would be a great spot for a lorry park.

Last time I was there? The water in the ditches ~ those left, around the perimeters ~ was as clear as bottled stuff. And there was a reddish sediment at the bottoms. Ye couldn't have found a sign of life in them with an electron microscope. :censor:


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## Dracoblade

*Slow worms*

We have so many of these brought into us at our rescue by kids thinking they are snakes. We are on the Welsh/Shropshire border. 

Think more education is needed on these to stop picking them up and removing them from there environment.


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## wagg

Seen the back end of a grass snake about 2 weeks ago. With a magpie chassing suit lol


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## Diplo

SnakeBreeder said:


> Sorry I was sworn to secrecy by the forestry worker that let me know about it in the first place.
> Fortunately it is on private land so should be safe.
> He showed me several place in the north but sadly most no longer have any reptiles.
> There was a great place outside Rothbury, for seeing adders, but sadly someone set fire to the vegetation and destroyed the habitat. I've not heard of any there for over a decade!


I spent many happy hours looking for reptiles in Rothbury , Adders were common, as well as Slow worms and common lizards. One of the best spots was a private garden , it was very overgrown and contained piles of wood and old dry stone walling. We knocked on the house owners door and asked if they minded us looking for reptiles, think the guy thought we were crazy but said we could. That was nearly 30 years ago. On a similar note As a kid growing up in Leeds i lived near a sandstone quarry and on a few occasions caught common lizards as well as great crested newts in the ponds that had formed in the quarry.


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## dps51

I remember looking for them when I was a school lad 
in the disused clay pits also in the locale woodlands 
sad all those places have gone now got house on 
it make you think where did all the reptiles go


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## Garethgtt

I am seriously thinking about how and who with to get involved with trying to restore habitats and have breeding programs to protect these types of wildlife, reptiles, amphibians, birds, butterflies, bees, the lot, just don't know how to get it off the ground, when you fly onto the UK the ground is just field after field after field, I know locally 80% of these are just held by land owners and not farmed when we could make a massive impact putting these to constructive use rather than watching all our native species slowly get wiped out


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## Zincubus

Garethgtt said:


> I am seriously thinking about how and who with to get involved with trying to restore habitats and have breeding programs to protect these types of wildlife, reptiles, amphibians, birds, butterflies, bees, the lot, just don't know how to get it off the ground, when you fly onto the UK the ground is just field after field after field, I know locally 80% of these are just held by land owners and not farmed when we could make a massive impact putting these to constructive use rather than watching all our native species slowly get wiped out




Oddly enough ..... I've been thinking somewhat along those lines myself recently ... 

I grew up on the edge of the countryside and when I wasn't playing footie on the streets and local pitch I used to take our Red Setter over the fields around the lodges and streams .... back in the day 50 years ago the steams were full of minnows , stone loaches , bullheads and sticklebacks plus the streams coming from the private trout fishing lodges had loads of trout in them .


Moving forwards to today and the lodges have all been bought by landowners and fenced off from the public BUT the streams are all still mainly accessible .

There lies the problem - there's no sign of life at all , barely a flamin stickleback to be seen.


About 30 years ago there were a couple of 'spillages' which seemed to kill most of the fish surrounding streams and lodges but I'd have guessed that by now things would have cleared up.

Now .... There's a local lodge on the other side of town that is positively teaming with baby fish and thousands of Sticklebacks so what's the general consensus in here on me transferring some fish back to " my " old streams ??




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## Garethgtt

I'm not advocating stealing farm land off the owners bit having the government give them an insentive at least initially to reforrest and transform all this land and put it to constructive use, even if we have to smash the glocal charity aid budget to third world countries, someone nerds to see the big picture and start the ball rolling


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## Garethgtt

In the time between posts I just put up two bird boxes out of cats range on my house lol, just sticky up a bird feeder out of cats range with nuts and seeds has been great seeing local wildlife start hanging round gaining a benefit, next step is a wild pond for the frogs, toads and wild flowers then next year a beehive with a queen


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## Shellsfeathers&fur

Plenty then for your escaped snake to eat then :blush:


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## Garethgtt

Yep, I'm still majoring cheesed off at that, everytime I leave the house I come back and lift up paving flags and bags hoping it might have moved back


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## Garethgtt

Just going to all the neighbours saying I've lost a 5ft snake and looking through their gardens is hard enough, but my garden backs onto a dried up drainage riverbed so the snake could literally be anywhere, I spent 3 hours going through my cct footage trying to figure out how the hell it slipped my grasp


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## Shellsfeathers&fur

Have you told your neighbours? We don't keep snakes, and never will, so not quite sure how I'd feel knowing there was an escapee!


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## Garethgtt

Yeah I told them all, it's a harmless kingsnake the worst it would do is kill a mouse, I'd rather take the flak for it if there is a chance of getting it back, at least they know who yo come to


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