My Blog - Jeff Clarke

Slytherin

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All images unless otherwise stated © Jeff Clarke 2011

The reptile mats that I've been monitoring at Hogshead are beginning to pay dividends, until now Common Lizards had been the staple fare but a visit to another nearby heathland clearly passed on some of its charm. I'd joined my buddy Paul Hill to check out his reptile mats and it proved to be a Grass Snake fest. We uncovered a minimum of 7 animals, mostly youngsters less than a year old. The one pictured above has a cloudy eye and is preparing to slough its skin.

We then transferred to Hogshead and as if by magic there was another adult Grass Snake under one of the mats. This was the first known record for the site. Then today I was back at the site checking out for Downy Emerald, which I duly found and I checked under a mat I'd missed out the day before and there was a recently shed skin. Hogshead gets ever more fascinating. I'd love to save this heathland from the indiscriminate tree-planting that has blighted the site. Records like this might help to strengthen my cause.