| Key to the list at the end of each section: | |
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Black - Bio Blitz 2015 not photographed |
Blue - Bio Blitz 2015 photographed |
Red - photographed & identified by Volunteers |
Green - from NatureSpot |
All pictures are taken on the reserve. |
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Hover over the following pictures to enlarge |
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Reptiles
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Reptiles - the name comes from Latin and means "one who creeps". All living reptile species are cold blooded, have scaly skin, and lay cleidoic eggs. They excrete uric acid (instead of urea), and have a cloaca. A cloaca is a shared opening for the anus, urinary tract and reproductive ducts. Reptiles also share an arrangement of the heart and major blood vessels which is different from that of mammals. |
| Grass Snakes are common and widely distributed across lowland England and Wales, but they are absent from Ireland and rarely seen in Scotland. On mainland Europe their range extends from central Scandinavia down to southern Italy, while their eastward range extends into the Middle East. There are also records of this snake occurring in parts of northwest Africa. | These very common nonvenomous snakes have a preference for rough land with plenty of long grass, laying their eggs in June and July in rotting vegetation such as compost heaps - a source of warmth. The young hatch in autumn. For food, Grass Snakes eat mainly amphibians, including toads, frogs and newts; and they can even catch small fish. Predators Grass Snakes are sometimes killed by people in the mistaken belief that they are adders. Although they hiss menacingly when cornered, these reptiles are neither venomous nor aggressive, and so killing any of them is quite unjustified; indeed to do so in the UK is a criminal offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 198 |
| Bio Blitz ------ 26-06-2015 blue & black Grass Snake - Natrix natrix |