RIP

Today

Eventually we did the only sensible thing and had Lizzie's lawn re-turfed by a professional. Looks lovely too, and Liz actually mowed it about three weeks ago.

She planned to do it again two weeks later and was horrified to see just how fast grass grows. In fact I did it for her a few days earlier (just as well as it rained on the weekend she had set aside).

As I got to the bottom damp bit I saw a little creature slither off in the grass. I asked Paul "Are grass snakes brown?" "Yes", he replied. I spoke to Lizzie about it and she said "Oh, I know - I saw it last week and took a picture." I talked to a know-it-all type of chap down at the local cookshop and was quizzed on whether it had yellow spots behind the eyes (essential for a grass snake) - "I don't know, I was trying to get it out of the way of the mower blades by lifting it on a stick." "Of course, if it's dark brown it could be an adder," he went on with relish "they do exist on the Mendips."

I researched via good ole' Wiki and decided that the slim, silky cafe latte coloured creature I'd seen was actually a slow-worm which is neither a worm nor a snake, but a legless lizard which is good at ridding the garden of slugs but defenceless against cats.

Did the grass again today and spotted several of them slithering around where the grass was longest and dampest.

In My Day

I'm a real townie and have not only never seen a snake in the wild, but am profoundly ignorant on the subject as well. The garden at 4BH was large and overgrown so grass snakes and slow-worms were a possibility, but I never saw any.

When we went for walks led by Mamma my brothers were very fond of discussing whether we'd see adders up on the sandy country around Godalming or on the Weald. They were full of stories about how to deal with a snake-bite (slice the wound and suck, apparently) and probably enjoyed terrifying their little, gullible sister. I made sure to stamp on the ground to scare them away whenever we were in heathland on hot days. We probably all made so much noise that any self-respecting snake could hear us coming for miles.

When we lived at Rowan Avenue, Frannie found a slow worm which she kept in her pocket and tried to feed on grass until her ophidiophobic mother made her throw it away very far from the house.

I regret to report that one of the slow-worms in Lizzie's garden was too slow to avoid the mower, meeting his end via the whirling blades. I am so sorry, slow-worm and will be more careful in future.