Unveiling Slow Worms of Highland
Guest Writer Cally Ullman-Smith from the ARC-Trust tells us more about this enigmatic creature
There’s a rock in the middle of the sea that the playwright William Shakespeare once affectionately referred to as The Sceptred Isle. It’s nuzzled between the European continent and the Island of Ireland. This island is home to some truly incredible examples of what the natural world has to offer.
In our Atlantic rainforests the rare bluebells bloom in abundance, and Capercaillies strut through leks, making an extraordinary call. Buzzards fly overhead and moles burrow under our feet. Amongst all of this is a strange and wonderful reptile.
It lives its life as a riddle;
it has no legs
but is not a snake,
it is called a worm
but is a vertebrate.
It has a forked tongue and small eyes, and as the males get older their scales can turn, slowly, bright blue.
The Scottish Slow Worm is simply magnificent.
Slow Worms are adept at travelling over grasslands, able to swim through the vegetation with their legless bodies. Their Gaelic name also suggests where to find them, Nathair-Challtainn the Hazel snake. As reptiles they are cold blooded, requiring the warmth of the sun to give them energy to hunt invertebrates such as snails and slugs.
Life can sometimes be dramatic - the video below depicts a slowworm and frog competing for an earthworm.
Unlike most reptiles, slow worms don’t lay eggs. They give birth to live young, a trait shared with Scotland’s other reptiles the Adder and Viviparous Lizard.
Slow-Worm recording project
It is now summer and finally warming up. As the sun appears, this is the best time to see slow worms (they hibernate over the winter months).
I am asking for any and all to help with a monumental record gathering project as Slow Worms Scotland seeks to establish a clear pattern of abundance for this species. We want to put the slow worms of the Highlands and Islands on the map.
Our world’s natural world is changing, and that rate of change has never felt as fast paced as now. The slow worm is already one of our most mysterious animals and that means we don’t yet know how these changes may affect it or if they are already being affected. So, if you see on this year or have seen one in the last year or so and have a photo to send then please do along with the location and date to the public Facebook group Slow Worms Scotland.
This record will go to Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust and be kept safely, to update the distribution maps. This information isn’t just useful for my own research but also for national conservation efforts for our native Lizards.
The Highlands is a prime location for nature, we can sometimes find ourselves taking its uniqueness for granted. But it is simply the best place for this kind of project, to reach out to people and communities and have a chance to see through their eyes. We all want to look after our wee patch of the natural world. And that’s what Slow Worms Scotland is building on.
For those that don’t use facebook - records can also be submitted by email - we do still need a picture and location.
Let’s do our bit to look after, and learn more about, one of our most mysterious and amazing animals.
Thank you,
Tapadh Leibh,
Cally Ullman-Smith from Slow Worms Scotland and ARC Trust