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Sand Lizard
Lacerta agilis |
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Slow Worm
Anguis fragilis |
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Adder or Viper Vipera berus in the melanistic or black form. |
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Adder or Viper (f) Vipera berus Britain's only poisonous
snake and also the most common. It is recognisable
by the zigzag pattern along its
length and a V marking on the back of the head. The eyes are also
different to our other snakes with the Adders having a vertical
pupil where as the Grass and Smooth snake have round pupils. Adders
bodies are shorter and broader than the Grass snake with males
reaching maturity at 40cm and females a little longer. Over time a
female may reach over 70cm. Prey consists of rodents, lizards and
young birds. An Adder will only bite a human if provoked or is
accidently trodden on. Although venomous an Adder bite is very rarely fatal.
The severity of an Adder bite is proportionate to the size of the
victim and the volume of venom injected. Immediate medical
attention should be sought if you are bitten.
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Female Adder or Viper (f)
Vipera berus
Thursley Common Surrey. |
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Common Lizard (m)
Lacerta vivpara
Soaking up the sun on
Thursley Common. This lizard
is resting on the board walk which crosses the lowland mire. Habitat
which is now extremely rare. |
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Grass or Ringed Snake (juvenile)
Natrix natrix helvetica.
Britain's longest snake with some females reaching over five
feet in length. The Grass snake is non venomous and lives on frogs
fish and sometimes small mammals. It is found in marshland woodland
and along hedgerows. Unlike our other two snakes Grass snakes lay
eggs. A mature female will lay around 20-40 white eggs near the end
of June. Compost heaps and other areas where warmth is artificially
generated are chosen to aid the development of the eggs. |
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Adder
or Viper
Vipera berus. |
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Common Lizard
Lacerta vivipara
Herstmonceux Castle East Sussex. |
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Freshly shed Adder skin. Snakes will
periodically shed their skin to allow for growth and wear and
tear. When emerging from winter hibernation you may see them
basking in the sun with dull milky eyes. This is a sign that the
snake will soon shed its skin which is also known as sloughing. |
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This Adder has just emerged from hibernation
and shows the characteristic cloudy eyes which appear before
sloughing. After the snake has shed its skin, the dull
appearance and milky eyes will disappear and the snake will take
on a beautiful iridescent sheen. |
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Black Slug Arion ater feasting on a snake skin. |
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Common Lizard
(m)
Lacerta vivipara.
Hunting ants on the heath.Thursley Common. |
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Adder or Viper Vipera berus
in the melanistic or black form basking on
Heyshott Common West Sussex. |
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