Enter Two More Dragons In Your Garden

Our next two Dragons in this Chinese Year of the Dragon are the Lizards. The most common in Wenvoe is the Slow Worm, neither a worm nor snake but a legless lizard. They are amazingly long-lived, amongst the longest-living lizards in the world, often reaching 30 years and known to exceed 50. They eat slugs, snails, worms and invertebrates and whilst they lay eggs these are held inside the body and hatch there so that the lizard gives birth to live young. If you have room in your garden for a small sheet of metal or old carpet tile you will often find all sorts of wildlife sheltering there including slow worms. Juveniles can look very different with gold, silver or copper-coloured sides and often have a dark stripe running along their back. They hibernate in old trees or underground. Then there is the Common or Viviparous Lizard which is fairly common throughout the UK although it has not been recorded in our Parish. It tends to be found in grasslands or heathlands and you are quite likely to see it if you venture out into higher land in South Wales and moors but also sand dunes. It can be up to 15 cms in length and, like the Slow Worm, gives birth to live young. One to look out for and, if you can get a photo, even better.

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