slow worm in my back garden

[lou lou]

yesterday my daughter came running in from the garden saying there was a snake in the garden which i did not believe her and when i looked it was like a snake i think it must of been a slow worm i have never seen one before just wondered if any one else has ever seen one before must admit i did not like it and my daughter was quite happy to touch it and my other mindee just ran off so i also thought i should maybe do an activity on this now has anyone got any ideas that i could do?

[LOOPYLISA]

Arrrrhhhhh i don't like slow worms, look like silver long snakes :panic:

My mum used to run them over(accidently) when she cut the lawn, we were forever finding dead ones when we were little :(

[Trouble]

did you take a picture i have never seen one before ?

[kindredspirits]

they are an endanged species i believe and its illegal to keep them as pets so if you do do a project about it make sure its left in its natural habitat! :thumbsup:

[jellytot]

I have never heard of a slow worm :blush: off to look it up......

[onceinabluemoon]

slow worms are Lizards with no legs.

They have mouths like Lizards, rather like snakes, and don't tend to bite as long as you are gentle (in fact I've never been bitten by one and I've handled plenty as I was a complete tom boy as a kid). However they are extremely quick and you're likely to drop them and hurt them if you pick them up.

When I was a kid they were everywhere, even when my own kids were young. Its sad that they are now endangered. :(

[Greengrass74]

Here is some info about slow worms

http://www.mickcoplen.com/slowworms/Slowworms.htm


maybe you should give him (or her) a name perhaps Wiggly woo as in the song there's a worm at the bottom of the garden


There's a worm at the bottom of the garden
And his name is Wiggly Woo
There's a worm at the bottom of the garden
And all that he can do
Is wiggle all night
And wiggle all day
Whatever else the people do say
There's a worm at the bottom of the garden
And his name is Wiggly Woo

[Mouse]

I don't think I've ever heard of those before and have certainly never seen one. How interesting.

[loocyloo]

the nursery my children attended ( and i worked at! ) used to have a couple of slowworms in a tank ... had them for years!

the children loved them, and one of the jobs everyday was to go for a walk to find some slugs & worms & bugs for them !!!! i didn't like that bit, but the slowworms themselves were lovely!

[PixiePetal]

they are lovely :blush:

when i was a child my friend found one on the allotment and kept it for a while as a pet :o we dug worms for it to eat - not even sure what they ate at the time. we called it 'Lowly' :laughing:

at my old house we had them in the garden quite a lot - we had allotments behind our house - found baby ones quite often too. I just put them back over the fence to slither away:)

[christine e]

I saw one a few years ago on the isle of wight

Cx

[miffy]

i also thought i should maybe do an activity on this now has anyone got any ideas that i could do?

I found this quiz about slow worms - suppose it depends how old the children are.

http://www.richardpate.co.uk/learning/quiz_6E_slowworms.asp

Miffy xx

[Ripeberry]

When I was a child we used to have a slow worm that lived under the garden steps and when it rained it always came out. I picked it up once and found out that it was NOT a good idea as they have a defence mechanism and that is to issue a foul smelling liquid from their rear end :panic: :eek:

Not seen one since the late 1980's :(

[samb]

My Granddad used to have loads in his garden. He would pick them up to show us but I am afraid I am bit girly and screamed and ran away! :blush:

[Hebs]

they are an endanged species i believe and its illegal to keep them as pets so if you do do a project about it make sure its left in its natural habitat! :thumbsup:

it says on that link that it is only illegal to trade in them (dead or alive)
i have never seen one before or heard of them until reading this thread..... very interesting :D

[PixiePetal]

I can't believe how many people have never seen or heard of them :o

I know they are not as common as they used to be and are protected, but they are still quite common down here in the south of England, especially it seems around our local allotments. Maybe due to the black plastic/carpet people put down to suppress weeds which keeps warmth in and which they like to hide under :)

[Ripeberry]

I can't believe how many people have never seen or heard of them :o

I know they are not as common as they used to be and are protected, but they are still quite common down here in the south of England, especially it seems around our local allotments. Maybe due to the black plastic/carpet people put down to suppress weeds which keeps warmth in and which they like to hide under :)

That's what I used to do! In my grandparents garden I was always lifting up their 'weed carpets'. Lots of interesting things there.
Did that with a large metal corrugated sheet in the local fields but no slow worms just a nest of baby mice :panic:
Put it back down over them though :)

[Helen Dempster]

slow worms are COOL!!! I love 'em. They're v. similar to snakes but nicer (my opinion). I should imagine the kids really enjoyed seeing it, as it's quite unusual to see a slow worm in the garden. My neighbour found one in his a while ago, and brought it down to my house so the kids could all have a look and stroke it if they wanted. Brilliant :)

[PixiePetal]

slow worms are lovely :) - I wasn't so thrilled to find a sunbathing grass snake about 4 foot long outside my patio doors :eek: scared the life out of me, as I did it! It slithered away pretty quick under the garden gate when I screamed :blush: