slow worms

[Edd]

Me and my brother are on the lookout for slow worms because hes never seen one before, how rare are they and were am i likely to find them, i live in the countryside and my garden has quite a bit of wildlife, like grass snakes and smooth newts.
Can anyone help me!

[Dogghound]

Where in the UK are you, they are quite common, especially in prefered habitats. They can be found in a variety of areas like open woodland, heath, moorland, edges of urban areas, sometimes farmland allotments and overgrown gardens are often good. Here we get the best numbers around open heath of forest edge.

[Edd]

But where abouts should i look ,under rocks ,in wood piles?

[Jason Claxton]

Hi Edd,

Try under things such as discarded carpet,cardboard,but if you live in a very tidy area,you can try putting down a small piece of roofing felt about 2ft by 3ft,near a hedge in longish grass,which will draw them in.

Cheers Jason

[Beekeeper]

There was one on my garden path yesterday which i steered in the direction of my compost heap before the dog spotted her.

Ian

[Dorts]

I have always had a soft spot for the Slow worm ever since I kept one as a kid.
My tip for attracting them is to place a piece of old carpet onto a compost heap, not too fresh, but well rotten. If you have slow worms around they will almost certainly find their way to the 'cosy home' you have created. Their favorite food by the way are those small soft white slugs you find of an evening, especially on your lettuces, they rarely eat the larger harder ones!

You can tell the difference between sexes as the femails retain their juvenile dark lateral stripe. The adult males lose this, and with age will start to produce varying amounts blue scales sometimes up to 50%. Male vary in colour from almost white to brown and a true black.