If it looks like a snake but blinks, it is a slow worm: Anguis fragilis. That is the helpful hint for the squeamish who might worry about the appearance of a greyish brown or black legless lizard in their garden compost heap. Your reaction should be delight, as slow worms are entirely harmless and a gardener’s friend; they eat slow-moving prey like slugs and other garden pests.
They are the most likely of Britain’s reptiles to be found in gardens but like any damp and boggy place on the edge of woodland or in tufty grasslands. They are most numerous in Wales and the West Country but can appear anywhere in Britain although populations can be patchy.
Slow worms are the UK’s only legless lizard and a priority species for protection. Harming them is an offence but many are killed by cats.
Adults are out of winter hibernation and looking to mate, a ritual that involves a pair being intertwined for as long as 10 hours. The females retain the eggs inside them and give birth to an average of eight young in the summer. The young are tiny, about 4cm, and thin. Adults live 20 years but grow to a maximum of only 50cm, much smaller than any adult British snake.
