Lizards are scaling a comeback

IF YOU'RE lucky, you might spot a common lizard basking in the sunshine on a visit to one of our wonderful peatlands, says Jenny Bennion from The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside

- ALAN WRIGHT

Take a stroll around Little Woolden Moss just outside Salford and on a sunny day you might be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a common lizard basking in the sunshine on the path edge.

The common lizard is widespread across the UK, making its home on grasslands, heaths, and some of our wonderful peatlands.

You might even srr one in your garden - but while it's common, it's not always easy to spot.

Growing up to 15cm in length, common lizards are speedy little suckers. Basking one minute, a flip of their tail and they've disappeared into the undergrowth the next.

Their mottled brown and grey camouflages them.

Common lizards are also known as the 'viviparous lizard' and are unusual amongst reptiles as they incubate their eggs inside their body and 'give birth' to live young. Each pair raises between three and 11 young in July.