Ssnake! (From Bucks Free Press)

Ssnake!

1:33am Saturday 12th June 2010

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In all my years of searching I have never met up with the adder and it was only recently that I saw a grass snake in the wild. The slow-worm is rarely seen and yet it is with one of those little blighters that gives my only 'nasty' encounter with a snake; albeit a legless lizard.

The railway bank on the southern slopes of the chalky Chiltern hills must have been a haven for slow-worm because we spent many an hour exploring the old allotments. The plots of land became unused after the old cottages were demolished just after WW2.

The debris from the various sheds and other structures provided ideal habitat for slow-worm and simply by lifting a sheet of corrugated metal they could be found.

One day I came across a rather splendid specimen and decided it would have a much better life in our back garden. There it could bask in the sunny spot under the kitchen window or seek shade or food in the cabbage patch.

Remarkably I got the poor thing home without it shedding its tail. Something they often do at the drop of a hat. I released the worm into the grass and spent a while watching as it nosed around for a while then it did indeed settle in to bask in the sun.

It may have been a week later when I next encountered the worm. I happened to spot it sliding through the grass just ahead of the lawn-mower that bore down upon it.

Slow-worm are neither slow nor worm. Nevertheless this worm at its fastest couldn't out(slide,run?) the mower as pushed by uncle who was in a hurry to get to the pub..

I dived in front of the revolving blades of the mower that rushed, ever closer and grabbed at the slow-worm, my safety of no concern. when a super-hero is needed...

As I recall I did a swallow-dive followed by a roll that had me on my feet in on sure, graceful movement; The truth is I simply dashed forward and grabbed the errant creature and sidestepped the already slowing mower because uncle had spotted it slithering away.

My reward was that the thing bit me! After all I had done, it bit me.

They are carnivorous but a bite from one is hardly a great cause for concern. I say that as an adult, at the time shock and horror set in instantly and I flicked my finger to rid myself of the unwanted, painful attachment.

The grip it had on my finger was released and the reptile flew through the air, describing a graceful arc.

We both (uncle and I) could see what was going to happen and were equally powerless to do a thing. He had been laughing at my antics and the sight of me flicking a snake from my finger and resumed mowing.

Old reel mowers follow simple principles. Wheels pushed along the ground drive a helical set of blades that spin against a blade set at the required height to keep grass neat and even. When the mower is given a push the blades continue to spin, even as it is pulled backward.

The hapless worm followed the arc and landed in the very part of the mower where most harm could be done. And it was.

The sliced slow-worm stained the grass.

I learned that taking things from the wild is not a good idea.