Slow Worm showdown

admin
, 12 July 2024
Slow Worm showdown
Slow Worm © Jamie Hall

By Sophie Atkinson

Youth Action Officer

Checking the footage from the Deneway Nature Reserve trail cams, Youth Ranger Milly Rudling was excited to find a showdown between a Magpie and a Slow Worm had been recorded. This particular Slow Worm escaped with its life thanks to a neat trick this legless lizard uses to evade predators – detaching its tail.

This is made possible by fractures along the Slow Worm tail that are held together by muscle, and when the tail is pulled the Slow Worm can detach it at one of these weak points. The detached tail then continues to wriggle around, giving the Slow Worm time to escape whilst the Magpie is distracted by the movement of the tail. After losing its tail, the Slow Worm can regrow it, although the regenerated tail is usually shorter.

Isn’t nature incredible?

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Comments

  • Claire Saxby:

    Fantastic video. I bet the kids loved that trick of the slow worm and will remember it for ever.

    18 Jul 2024 10:49:00

  • Tim Dakers:

    I rescued two slow worms earlier this year as they came out of hibernation and became stuck between two planks of wood, their fore part being a smaller circumference than their rear part which became stuck…I managed to prise the planks apart and relocated the slow worms successfully

    18 Jul 2024 11:02:00

  • Pam Kelly:

    I’d forgotten they could do this, so thank you. For me it points up what a pest magpies are for so many species. They are relentless in tracking down fledgling blackbirds every year in my own and surrounding gardens. How have they become so numerous? Is it the flip side of garden feeders where they can easily steal and so have multiplied? A piece in the newsletters would be interesting.

    18 Jul 2024 11:18:00

  • Sussex Wildlife Trust:

    Magpies are native to the UK and play a natural role in ecosystems as scavengers and predators. They are opportunistic feeders, and Magpies can help control populations of crop-damaging insects and small rodents. With regards to small birds, studies have shown that Magpies are not significant threat to overall songbird populations. We will look into a blog, to discuss this issue in more detail.

  • Michael Procter:

    Magpies are intelligent birds I wonder if they’ve learnt that they’ll get an easy meal by doing this.

    18 Jul 2024 11:37:00

  • Marilyn Hunt:

    Amazing

    18 Jul 2024 12:54:00

  • Marilyn Ireland:

    I have a small town garden with a family of slow worms. Breeding more and more each year.hence I no longer use slug pellets to control slugs and snails.

    18 Jul 2024 19:04:00

  • Roland Ramsdale:

    I take it the Magpie departs with something (i.e. the tail) that is somwhat nutritious? Is there any research on the food value of shed tails compared to the whole body of a slowworm or lizard? I imagine that various organs are quite high in nutritious value, but what about the meat?

    18 Jul 2024 20:01:00

  • Steve Hollyman:

    Just started an allotment in Bognor. Found about 10 slow worms in the composter mainly and in the veg area. Pink when young turn grey when older longer. Tail wriggles if worm cut by mistake. Birds don’t seem too interested as yet.

    18 Jul 2024 21:33:00

  • V. Hill:

    The film of the slow worm escape was intriguing. Many years ago our young cat caught one which dropped its tail. The tail continued to wriggle and twitch for twenty minutes. The cat had a bite of the tail but spat it out, presumably they taste horrible.
    Could you use British English please, i.e. ‘defence’.

    19 Jul 2024 16:48:00

  • Eve:

    That is amazing! I knew slow worms could do that but never thought I’d see it. Great video, thanks for sharing.
    I am lucky enough to have slow worms in my garden here in St Leonards. It’s always a delight to come across them. I have an old pile of logs that has been undisturbed for several years and they use that for hiding. They also like hiding in the arborescent ivy, high up on a fence. I was so surprised when I discovered them up there six feet above ground level!

    19 Jul 2024 18:01:00

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