Britain's rarest reptile

Charlotte Owen
, 19 August 2020
Britain's rarest reptile
Smooth Snake by Derek Middleton

By Charlotte Owen, WildCall Officer

The Smooth Snake is Britain’s rarest reptile. It lives on sandy heathland - another rarity - and is only found in Dorset and Hampshire, with a handful of sites in Surrey and a single, precious location in West Sussex. This extra-special resident still takes some finding, even when you're in the right place. It is extremely secretive, rarely emerging from the dense vegetation of its heathland home and hiding under sun-baked stones and logs rather than basking in the open. When it does venture out, its cryptic camouflage blends seamlessly into the dry leaves and stems underfoot.

Smooth Snakes look a bit like Adders but slimmer, and without a venomous bite. The name refers to their scales, which are smooth in comparison to the keeled scales of Grass Snakes and Adders. The keel is a central ridge like the quill of a feather or the main vein of a leaf, and keeled scales feel rough to the touch – not that stroking a snake is ever recommended. Without these ridges, the Smooth Snake’s scales lie flatter and have a sleeker, almost polished appearance. This is an adaptation to help them move smoothly through the tangled jungle of heather and grass, and while they may be slower as a result they are much more manoeuvrable. This is a valuable trait for an ambush predator, able to glide silently into the perfect position before lying in wait for as long as it takes, entwined and invisible in the undergrowth. More often than not, their prey is another reptile – a Common Lizard, Sand Lizard or Slow Worm. They will even eat other snakes as well as small mammals, birds and anything else they can swallow, grabbing them with a lightning-fast strike before coiling around them to apply a crushing squeeze.

Late summer should see a boost in numbers as this year’s young emerge. Females incubate their eggs internally, eventually giving birth to between four and 15 live young – perfect, pencil-sized miniatures with a distinctive black crown. They will stay with her for a few days before disappearing into the heather, bolstering one of the best-kept secrets of the heath. 

Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1783155048.28180 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1783155048.30830.0265Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1783155048.30850.0002Server address: 216.73.217.177
1783155048.30850Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1783155048.30850Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/britains-rarest-reptile
    [s] => britains-rarest-reptile
    [1] => britains-rarest-reptile
)
1783155048.30880.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783155048.30970.0009 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1783155048.31150.0018 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22604328
1783155048.31210.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22604328
1783155048.31260.0005 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-07-04 08:50:00' AND saleTo>'2026-07-04 08:50:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1783155048.31370.0011 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='britains-rarest-reptile')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-04 08:50:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1783155048.3170.0033 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783155048.31760.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=2294 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-04 08:50:00'
1783155048.31840.0008 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1783155048.3190.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1783155048.31970.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=181 LIMIT 1
1783155048.32030.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=78 LIMIT 1
1783155048.32090.0006Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783155048.32110.0002 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1783155048.3220.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-04 08:50:00' AND postSlug='britains-rarest-reptile'
1783155048.34540.0234Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783155048.34580.0004 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1783155048.34760.0017Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1783155048.34780.0002 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1783155048.34870.0009 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1783155048.35020.0015 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783155048.35320.0031 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783155048.35380.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783155048.35580.0021Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1783155048.35590 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783155048.35660.0008 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783155048.3570.0004 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783155048.35990.0029 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783155048.3610.0011 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783155048.36170.0008 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783155048.36440.0026 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783155048.36530.001 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1783155048.3680.0027 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1783155048.36840.0004Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783155048.36870.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='16' LIMIT 1
1783155048.36940.0008Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1783155048.36980.0004 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='britains-rarest-reptile')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-04 08:50:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1783155048.37210.0022 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783155048.37250.0005 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783155048.37450.0019Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1783155048.37490.0004 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=2294 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1783155048.42750.0526 [0] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1783155048.42770.0003Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783155048.4280.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='16' LIMIT 1
1783155048.42890.0009 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1783155048.42960.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1783155048.43030.0007 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783155048.43260.0023 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783155048.43310.0004 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783155048.43520.0021 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783155048.43620.0011 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783155048.43690.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783155048.43730.0005 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783155048.44040.0031 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783155048.44120.0008 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783155048.44380.0025 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783155048.44730.0035 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1783155048.44830.001 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1783155048.44880.0006 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783155048.45120.0024 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783155048.45170.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783155048.45390.0022 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783155048.45630.0024 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783155048.4570.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783155048.45740.0004 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783155048.45980.0024 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783155048.46030.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783155048.46220.0019 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783155048.46420.002Request time: 0.1835
1783155048.46420Process time: 0.1834
1783155048.46420Memory: 1.6244