Off the scales

Keep your eyes peeled for snakes, lizards and slow worms says Tom Marshall from the Yorkshire Wildlife Triangle

THERE’S something a little unnerving about seeing a snake in Britain for the first time. All the classic features are there; the diamond-shaped markings, the forked tongue dancing in front of a pair of blood-red eyes and a slightly increased heart rate that suggests you’re not quite sure what its next move will be.

For some, the very idea that there are snakes in Yorkshire at all may be enough to come over all Indiana Jones and start waving around a flaming torch. For the rest of us, it still seems remarkable that that such a wide range of warm-blooded creatures can make a home so far from the equator. It is however, the cooler weather of early spring at these northern latitudes that provides perhaps the best chance to get close to our native reptiles as they wake from their winter slumber. From adders to grass snakes and lizards too, they’re quite literally chilling out.

For the past few months, these scaly residents have been sheltering in their rather grandly-named ‘hibernacula’ – piles of rocks, rubble, compost heaps or anywhere with a steady ambient temperature. As the days grow longer, they rise with the gradually warming sun and venture out.

Adders are typically the first to emerge, with the males often appearing in March and sometimes even in late February, spending the weeks until April shedding their dull winter skin in favour of a rich black and green attire. The female adders follow soon after, stunningly well concealed when curled-up against the rusty-red brackens of winter in their chocolate brown and burnt orange jacket.