Big surprise

Wow definitely a surprise!! - I don't think I have ever seen a grass snake or a slow worm you are very lucky to have them in your garden

Don't mind the slow worm but would run a mile at the grass snake. Know it can't hurt me but a real problem with snakes. As a young child when we lived abroad, the air con to my room stopped working so the engineers were called out. They found a very poisonous snake in it. Dead thank god but it freaked me out. Gave me nightmears that the snake was trying to get me in my bed.

I went to have another look today but they had gone.

Not surprised that freaked you out Jen! There's a Sherlock Holmes story about a murder that was done with a snake that climbed down the bell pull.

I don't mind snakes that don't bite - have held a large python round my neck on one memorable occasion. If you hold behind the head with one hand and the tail with the other they can't curl round you - or so I was told by the keeper...The ones that give me the creeps are the evil looking little bright green ones you see in the heated tanks at the zoo.

Jan next door's cat sometimes catches slow worms and you see him going up the drive with one hanging out of his mouth on each side, like a puffin with a fish...

Hi Sue, you're very lucky to see them both, in 68 years I've only ever seen 1 slow worm, and never seen a grass snake, funnily enough that was in south wales, near tenby, it's also 56 years ago, Derek.

'the speckled band' is the Sherlock story. love snakes but I still get the involuntary shudder if I come across them unexpectedly. primeval response no doubt.

I live in hope that one day I will have them in the garden.

Seaburngirl, you stole my thunder lol, had asked hubby for name of Sherlock story.
Sue you are so lucky seeing a slow worm. Could be wrong but I believe they endangered now. Used to see them around my parents house in Kent. My cat, Star would have a field day with them. When she was younger she kept bring home Bolters, most of the time alive. Young rabbits are called Bolters where Hubby comes from in Kent.

My sister has a copy of the "Sunlight year Book" where the "Speckled band" was first published. I think it was the first Sherlock Holmes story I read.

Yes we are lucky. I had never seen a slow worm before we came here. There is even a house not far away called "The slowworm's nest"! We saw our first the first time OH cut the grass when we'd just moved in - a near miss with the mower! I did strim the head off one once - felt terrible for ages. I saw some babies once too - bright silver and move like lightening!

Never heard young rabbits called Bolters before - there's something new to learn here most days!

What'd I'd really like to see now would be an adder - there are some up on the coast path but not when we've been around.

I would have loved to see your grass snake. I'm sure you can tell from my pictures that I love creepy crawly & slithery things - the creepier the better, lol. That's just me. I'm sure that was quite a surprise to see.

I have no wish at all to see them, used to get them around pembury but glad never saw one. We did get invaded by a family of wild boar. They had to close the road whild trying to get them back into the woods. Clip even ended up on net of them.

I love local words, when lived in Clevedon they called the tourist - Grockles and back in Pembury where near to Sussex they called alley ways - Twitons.

Sorry I didn't get a photo Bathgate but I do have on of a grass snake we found in one of our compost bins a few years ago. I will add it to my photos for you.

An alleyway is a gennel in Sheffield (pronounced jennel)and a snicket in Staffordshire. In Pembrokeshire its (i think) y gudel.

I'm glad we don't have wild boar round here Jen!

Must admit I didn't walk Ben in the woods that summer as there where young and didn't want Ben getting hurt.

Thanks for the new words :-)

I've not seen either slow, glow or grass snakes but I did have a couple of cobras round my neck once when young & on holiday abroad - must be the foolishness of youth cos that would never happen these days, lol.
Stera, they do have adders in the Thetford Forest, Norfolk area, mostly where the soil is sandy but you don't see them very often fortunately.

Cobras - oh I don't fancy that much! That was brave. I did have a python round my neck once when the Animal Man came to school. He said it was quite safe if you held it just behind the head with one hand and by the end of the tail with the other, so it can't do its constricting trick...I think they must make sure they aren't hungry too...

Funny isn't it, snakes look cold and slithery but they feel warm and astonishingly strong.

True that, Stera, but I have to admit I'd had a fair few glasses of champagne which accounts for the braveness :)

Lol - a bit of Dutch courage doesn't do any harm...