Lucy brought in a slow worm this morning. That’s nothing new, but it’s the first time she’s brought one in alive, in one piece. I shooed her away and picked it up to throw it outside. It immediately knotted itself around my fingers and squeezed with more strength than you would think a tiny thing could manage! I grabbed my camera:

The very tip of its tail was sharp. I wonder what it thought it was doing by poking me with it.

They’re a protected species in the UK, meaning it’s actually illegal to kill or injure them, so I put it down and watched it slither for a bit. It seemed to find it harder to move on stone than through grass.

Is it trying to tell me something? I guess a thank you would be nice.

Click for a closer look at the worm’s encounter with a woodlouse. Neither seemed too interested in the other.

It kept flicking its tongue out, doing its best impression of a snake, but slow worms are neither worms nor snakes. They are lizards. You can sort of tell if you look into their eyes.