Country diary: Slowworm's escape from jaws of disaster

Blanchland, North Pennines Seemingly in a trance, the reptile lay outstretched on the road with predator bites near its headWhen I was a child there was a sheet of rusting corrugated iron lying on the sunny bank of my grandmother's allotment. If I lifted it quickly I could often find a slowworm resting underneath. It would lie there, startled by the sunlight for a moment, then glide away, like a flowing column of mercury, into the hedge.I have been an inveterate lifter of rusty corrugated iron sheets ever since, but although they are well recognised hiding places for these elegant reptiles I've rarely been lucky. Continue reading...