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LACK OF REPORTS

Printed From: Reptiles and Amphibians of the UK
Category: General
Forum Name: Reporting
Forum Description: Report garden sightings and field days
URL: http://www.herpetofauna.co.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5064
Printed Date: 29 Mar 2024 at 10:23am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.06 - http://www.webwizforums.com


Topic: LACK OF REPORTS
Posted By: AGILIS
Subject: LACK OF REPORTS
Date Posted: 02 May 2016 at 4:20pm
This was once the busiest time of the year for interesting reports and this year must be the worst ever since the forums been up and running no sand lizards smooth snakes hardly a common or adders etc whats not going on Keith

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   LOCAL ICYNICAL CELTIC ECO WARRIOR AND FAILED DRUID



Replies:
Posted By: chubsta
Date Posted: 02 May 2016 at 11:23pm
it has been a bumper year for tadpoles here but despite many walks in good weather we haven't seen any reptiles at all here in the South East...


Posted By: will
Date Posted: 03 May 2016 at 6:27am
Hi Keith - I have yet to visit Dorset because April was so cold but planning a trip soon, so I'll let you know how I get on. I have put up some photos on Flickr which I tend to use by way of a reptile diary now, if you are interested - here's a link for example:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/100121190@N06/26725718156/in/datetaken-public/



Posted By: AGILIS
Date Posted: 03 May 2016 at 6:22pm
Your right there Will seems the weathers a month late I see a good few commons today on the housing estate site in Sudbury area where I caught a melanistic sloworm last April keith

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   LOCAL ICYNICAL CELTIC ECO WARRIOR AND FAILED DRUID


Posted By: Tom Omlette
Date Posted: 03 May 2016 at 7:36pm
weather and work have kept me away from herping i'm afraid


Posted By: Suzy
Date Posted: 03 May 2016 at 8:04pm
Some guys, like Tom and others, have posted some great images.
I think smooth snakes are going to be thin on the ground on here, unless someone has a licence who posts.
Admittedly I only post of garden creatures, and, although I've got great tangles of slow worms, I don't want to bore folk with images of them.
Because of the GCN/s in the pond I can't do any night photography thereCry
So yes, like you Keith I love all the reports, but people have their reasons. The weather hasn't helped!



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Suz


Posted By: chubsta
Date Posted: 03 May 2016 at 8:53pm
Originally posted by Suzy Suzy wrote:

although I've got great tangles of slow worms, I don't want to bore folk with images of them.



i wouldn't worry about that, I love seeing what others are encountering, i see so little in the way of anything around here - haven't seen a slow worm in years - that it is just nice to know they are still around


Posted By: Camerart
Date Posted: 06 May 2016 at 10:53am
Hi,  I have a corner of the garden left unkempt, where slow worms live and I have a plastic rug, where they congregate to warm up.  I've seen them for years, and today I saw one moving through the 'other' part of the garden.  I would like to know if slow worms go 'home' or do they wander and sleep where ever they roam?
Camerart.


Posted By: will
Date Posted: 06 May 2016 at 8:22pm
Given that slowworms are so good at being cryptic I think it's maybe more likely that they exist in other parts of your garden and that you have spotted one of these.  They can move around in search of mates, prey etc but I don't think they tend to forage in one place and then return to a particular refuge somewhere else, I guess because slugs tend to be found pretty much wherever they are.  On the other hand, I don't know if anyone has ever really investigated slowworm movements in a scientific way and I could well be wrong - would make an interesting study!


Posted By: Camerart
Date Posted: 07 May 2016 at 8:00am
Hi W,
I may try a study.  Do you think that the different slow worms will be able to be spotted by their markings, or will they need marking in some way, i,e, felt tip.  Is this ok to do.
C.


Posted By: will
Date Posted: 07 May 2016 at 9:12am
Hi - a study would be good, I would recommend placing a regular grid of sheets of roofing felt etc around the whole area, even those with short grass (slowworms can turn up in surprisingly short sward).  They shouldn't be marked - all kinds of problems in terms of increasing risk of predation, causing harm when marking them, as well as the plain fact that I don't think felt tip would stay long.  Having said that, individual slowworms can be recognised by the patterns of flecks especially above the jawline, also on the nape of the neck, a bit like with adders but on a smaller scale (literally...)  this might entail gently restraining them and taking photos.  It could build up into a nice project.


Posted By: Camerart
Date Posted: 07 May 2016 at 9:18am
Ok, First, I have a camera that can spot movement, and I'll place it over the track where I saw the slow worm,and see if I can figure out any pattern.
C.


Posted By: churchfield62
Date Posted: 28 Aug 2016 at 11:15pm
shortly i saw a cobra (complete black) posing in my garden, but austria. middle sized.
#najanigricollis


Posted By: AGILIS
Date Posted: 18 Oct 2016 at 5:46am
What a bottle if cobra lager


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   LOCAL ICYNICAL CELTIC ECO WARRIOR AND FAILED DRUID


Posted By: GemmaJF
Date Posted: 11 Nov 2016 at 8:07pm
Just picking up on the slow worm movements, several times during mitigations we have seen mini migrations across a site. For example a bank may form a hibernaculum and they start there in the spring then spread out over a site foraging in damp weather that gets the slugs moving. Certainly have observations of individuals using the same refuge at least for a few days at a time. So a picture of a very loose association with a 'home' at times, but I think generally movements are dictated by the slugs and soil conditions and things like available refuges. I once read a mitigation proposal that stated that exclusion fencing was not needed as slow worms are always entirely sedentary. Wrong!



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