If you see a slow worm (Anguis fragilis) in your garden, you'd be forgiven for thinking it's a snake. But it's actually a
Slow-worms are lizards, though they are often mistaken for snakes. Unlike snakes they have eyelids, a flat forked tongue and can drop their tail to escape from a predator. Slow-worms have a shiny appearance. Males are a greyish brown and females are brown with dark sides.
Grass snake (Natrix helvetica)
Grass snakes do not have the dark zigzag down their backs like adders, making them easy to tell apart. Grass snakes are grey-green coloured with black bars down their sides and a yellow and black 'collar' around the neck.
Habitat and Diet: The eastern wormsnake prefers well-drained, sandy soils for burrowing. It is typically found in moist habitats, usually in or near deciduous woodlands and occasionally in gardens. The primary food item is earthworms, but the wormsnake will also feed on soft-bodied insects.
About. The slow worm is neither a worm nor a snake, but is, in fact, a legless lizard - its identity is given away by its abilities to shed its tail and blink with its eyelids.
'Slow worms seldom bite people,' says Mark. 'They can be handled gently without danger if you need to move one or want to reassure a child that there's nothing to be frightened of. ' While they don't tend to bite humans, slow worms do have another important use for their teeth.
In the New Forest slow-worms are found throughout the damper and more heathy areas. They are also common in grasslands and gardens within villages, but are not often seen. In the UK they are found throughout lowland England, Scotland and Wales.
Snakes do have skin, but it's underneath their scales, like the skin is underneath fur or feathers. Earthworms don't have scales, or anything that looks like scales. Instead, they have soft skin that is easily punctured or scratched.
What is the difference between Snake and Worm? Snakes are a vertebrate group while worms are invertebrates. Therefore, snakes have stronger bodies compared to worms. Worms are much more diversified than snakes are.
The worm snake, (Carphophis amoenus), is so small that at first glance one might mistake it for an earthworm, but look closely to see a body covered in dry scales and a small head with two noticeable eyes, traits not seen in earthworms.
Centipedes' legs stick out to the side, but because millipedes have their legs under their body, they could be mistaken for a snake!
“It's an indicator of a healthy ecosystem, to have a snake in your yard [or garden],” said Melissa Amarello, co-founder and director of education for Advocates for Snake Preservation. “It means you have a friendly yard going on, enough to support a predator.”
Set up a compost heap and leave it to rot down naturally for several months, the warmth from the compost process provides the perfect nest site for slow worms and is also an insulated and protected space for overwintering. Take care when turning or using your garden compost, to avoid unearthing sheltering creatures.
Blind snakes are often mistaken for earthworms. They are small worm-like burrowing snake, pink or grey in colour and have a forked tongue and smooth scales around their bodies (no broad belly scales) that allow them to travel through soil.
Jumping worms are a type of earthworm. They are called “jumping worms” because of their unusual behavior when disturbed – they move like a snake and sometimes appear to be jumping.
Worms crawl, while snakes slither! This worm-like creature is actually a Brahminy blind snake (/Indotyphlops braminus/). Aside from the movement, a closer look at this snake will reveal tiny scales instead of annular segments as in earthworms.
Barbados threadsnake, (Leptotyphlops carlae), tiny burrowing member of the snake family Leptotyphlopidae. Reaching a maximum adult length of only 10.4 cm (4.1 inches) and an average weight of 0.6 g (0.02 ounce), it is thought to be the world's smallest known snake.
Caecilians, pronounced seh-SILL-yens, may look like worms or snakes, but these long, lithe creatures belong to a group of legless amphibians.
The White Worm-Lizard (Amphisbaena alba) is a unique reptile, neither lizard nor snake, it belongs to the suborder Amphisbaenia. It is one of the largest worm lizards in the world.
Worm snakes are not rare at all. Some people have collected dozens of them over a small area in a state where they are found. Their conservation status is least concern.
Threadworms look like tiny pieces of white cotton. Roundworms look more like earthworms. Hookworms can cause a red worm-shaped rash. Tapeworms are long, pale yellow and flat.
Threadworms, also called pinworms, are tiny, very thin white worms about 5 millimetres long that live in the intestine and around the anus (bottom).
What made Nagash so interesting to scientists was that it was the first example of a terrestrial snake species that had robust hind legs. Before this find, only older and aquatic-dwelling specimens had been found with hind legs.
These little 'worms' are nothing to worry about, unless they are severely impairing your vision, so what are they? Floaters' are caused by tiny fragments of cell debris within the vitreous humour of the eye - that's the gelatinous substance between the retina and the lens.