2024 - 4 Months of doing something different

I was a volunteer on Flat Holm island in the Bristol Channel. Used to take groups around the island, telling them about the history and wildlife. The slow worms on the island are slightly different to the mainland ones, with a more pronounced blue marking on their sides. Most people, especially the children, wanted to see them, so I would take them to a spot where they normally sheltered, beneath a sheet of corrugated iron. I recruited 2 strong people to stand beside the corrugated iron and, they had to lift it up and hold it upright while I dived underneath and grabbed a slow worm. Sometimes there were lots, sometimes just one, and they are not at all "slow" when they're surprised. Many people had never seen a slow worm before, let alone handled one. I loved the way they would curl around your hand, flicking their tongue out.
After a few minutes out, I'd return them to their home.
So now you know, JJB, what it takes to be a slow worm handler.

I remember when I was a bairn I had a pet slow worm for a while which I had found in a heap of rotting grass. They look very like those plastic snakes you buy. My female cousin was convinced it wa just a plastic snake until it shot out its black forked tongue at her................she ran a mile!