A not so 'slow worm' – Anguis fragilis

I was delighted when our friend Camilla came round today to help dig the garden. She arrived at 9-30am in time for coffee and we were at work by 10am. What a star.  Some weeks ago she offered to help me and suggested that if she dug up the vegetable beds it would help me take control again, and I think she is right.

It was fun for us both to have company and I know we always get more work done when working with others. I did a variety of other clearing jobs and dug up the the old strawberry plants and their many now established runners. Then I repotted them into large containers to move them all nearer to the house so I can keep an eye on them for slugs and snails and to spot when they are ripe. Bomble was delighted to have company and stayed with us in the garden all day, which was most surprising, as he is normally crashed out on a bed after 9am. 

One of my tasks was to rake up the grass cuttings left behind after my bouts of strimming in the last few days. Some of the grass is still quite long as I didn't want to cut down to ground level for fear of hurting slow worms. But as I raked in one patch I suddenly spotted a slow worm and luckily didn't hurt it. I love to see them and stopped what i was doing just to watch it.

Then I decided to get a camera from the house in order to blip it. By the time I returned it had nearly disappeared under some more long grass at the edge of an old bonfire which still had old wood, twigs and branches ready to burn. I eased some of the material away and managed to catch this shot despite its beguilingly speedy movement, but I didn't want to disturb it any more than I had to. I also didn't want Bomble spotting it as he would have attacked it and they have no defences against cats. I am actually surprised any slow worm survives in our back gardens given how many cats roam about there.