How Keep Weave From Tangling

The slow worm I

This morning, despite the rain, our dog wanted to stay in the garden was very excited, curious, barking and panting, looking alternately at me and a corner behind the stairs.
That is what he managed to intrigue me as well ... in the end the cause of all this agitation was a little slow worm (Anguis fragilis)!

I first moved away from Frodo unfortunate slow-worm: not that he was doing wrong, but I would never trade it for one of his " toys "and start masticarselo!

The question that arises now is the slow worm who does not know if its bite is poisonous.

The slow worm, how easily you can tell from its appearance, is a reptile, but does not belong to the suborder Serpentes but that of Sauri, that's definitely not a snake, nor is it related to the latter, but can view it as a lizard (one of the most popular lizards and relatives) without the feet.

fact watching closely his head looks just like that of a lizard and his mouth is shaped to eat the same things that feed it: earthworms (pictured below is ending a jelly!), Small insects , worms and snails. For this does not present the typical venomous teeth of serpents, and so it is absolutely harmless!

dell'orbettino The body is cylindrical and covered with scales pretty tough, often by a beautiful copper color as the sample I found today, being so hard make it a bit 'stiff in his movements, in fact when I picked up to save the dog he moved somewhat inflexible. This is due to the fact that typically live in the land and this type of strong armor helps him in the hole.

can even reach half a meter in length but is rare because, remember, it is almost a lizard without legs, sharing with it a particular defensive behavior called 'shedding', ie the ability to shed their tails to escape from predators. I recall that this is not a behavior that the lizard take lightly, as the loss of the tail is not only a great loss of its reserves of fat but also reduces the possibility of playing as a symbol of individual 'crafty little' in avoiding predators. The fact is that this skill can save the slow worm, but after that the samples often do not exceed 30-40 cm.

Like all reptiles, the slow worm is a cold-blooded animal, that is, his body temperature is not constant but varies with the ambient temperature. In winter it hibernates underground and the first hot spring emerges to recover a little body heat remaining in the sun.

The slow worm that I found today is a bit 'ahead of schedule, it was all a bit' dazed by cold and rainy weather, which is why his reaction times were very slow. This allowed me to take advantage and take a little 'photo and keep it in hand to enjoy the feeling of his skin, smooth as silk.

Then I softened and slowly I pushed a hole under the shed where I hope to remain protected from attack canines, as long as the temperatures will be milder.