Slow-worms are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, so they should be left alone. Should you be lucky enough to have them living in your garden, remember that they are completely harmless and will spend most of the spring and summer munching up pesky slugs for you!
'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.
Slow worms hibernate and start to emerge in March and April from their winter slumber. They mate in May and June. A slowly decomposing heap of compost provides a warm, sheltered and food rich place to raise the young. Leave it as undisturbed as possible so that these creatures can shelter safely.
While it's not an offence to move a slow worm, it is illegal to intentionally kill or injure them. So it's not just incomprehensible but illegal to hurt them under the Countryside Act 1981.
Although their snake-like appearance means that people are often scared by slow worms, especially if they turn up in someone's garden, they are in fact harmless to humans and do gardeners a favour by eating lots of slugs, snails and other slow-moving garden pests.
Your reaction should be delight, as slow worms are entirely harmless and a gardener's friend; they eat slow-moving prey like slugs and other garden pests. They are the most likely of Britain's reptiles to be found in gardens but like any damp and boggy place on the edge of woodland or in tufty grasslands.
With long, smooth, shiny, grey or brown bodies, slow worms look very similar to tiny snakes. In fact they are legless lizards and are quite harmless.
Consequently, under parts of Section 9(1) slow-worms are protected against intentional killing and injuring but not 'taking'. Under Section 9(5) it is an offence to offer for sale, transport for sale, advertise for the purpose of trading any live, dead, part, or derivative of, slow-worms.
If the slow worm is in trouble: Place the slow worm somewhere that has suitable cover or refuge as close as possible to where you found it (grassy tussock, group of rocks, bushes etc). This should provide a variety of environments for the slow worm to chose, offering humidity, shelter, food etc.
Slow worms are protected by law in Great Britain, meaning that they cannot be deliberately killed, injured or traded in any way. Its numbers are thought to be in decline in the UK and it is a 'Priority Species' in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.
The head of the worm may survive and regenerate its tail if the animal is cut behind the clitellum, according to The Washington Post. But the original tail of the worm will not be able to grow a new head (or the rest of its vital organs), and will instead die.
Slow-worms are thought to be the longest-lived of all lizards – the age of 54 years has been reliably recorded, although the normal lifespan is around 15 years. They are 30-40cm long and have bronze, brown or grey shiny skin with a metallic appearance.
Courting Slow Worms
If attacked, by say a cat, they go rigid, playing dead and can be picked up on a piece of cardboard and taken away to safety. They hibernate in Winter so are best seen from March to October. They hide under slabs of stone or metal sheets or in compost bins.
The slow worm's scientific name Anguis fragilis means 'fragile snake', but in fact they are not snakes at all, they are legless lizards. The reason they are referred to as fragile in their name is that they have the ability to shed their tails if caught by a predator.
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 are also attracted to compost heaps because of their warmth but another way to create warm spots for reptiles to bask on (or under) is to put out corrugated roofing sheets or slates.
Unfortunately Slow-worms are on the menu for many species. They are eaten by Adders, many species of birds including Pheasants, Hedgehogs, Badgers and domestic cats. Like all lizards, Slow-worms have ways to avoid being eaten. The first is to defecate, which produces a foul smell that may put off some predators.
Identification. 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.
“Pathogens that we already know can be carried by worms include E. coli O157 and salmonella.
While slow worms may look like snakes, they are actually legless lizards. They have a smooth, glossy, grey or brown cylindrical body and, unlike snakes, a flat forked tongue, eyelids and a tail which sheds when under attack. The tail will carry on moving even when it has been shed in order to distract the predator.
Protecting Slow Worms from cats
Foxes, badgers, and hedgehogs all eat slow worms, but a recent study showed that domestic cats are their number one predator, and the one we can actually do the most to protect Slow Worms from.
If an annelid is cut in two, they can regenerate to some degree, and in some species you can even end up with two worms. The common earthworm, however, will only regenerate from the tail end; the head end always dies.
Contrary to popular belief, worms cut in half don't actually turn into two new worms. To a biologist, 'worm' refers to many, quite different organisms. The ability to re-grow body parts differs enormously between them, although tails are generally easier to re-grow.
Almost all worms can regrow their tails if they are amputated, and many earthworms can lose several segments from their head end and they will grow back, the Washington Post reports. For some worms, however, the more segments that are cut off, the less likely they are to be fully regenerated.
The law on slow worms is they can't be killed, injured or traded. So you could legally move them or keep them as pets, however if they are in a certain habitat they are there because food sources ect suit them.