Slow Worm

The slow worm, Anguis fragilis, is a legless, non-venomous lizard of the family Anguidae native across Europe, frequently mistaken for a snake or a worm despite being neither. Semifossorial and smooth-skinned, it retains functional, movable eyelids that snakes lack, along with bony plates beneath its scales that make its locomotion stiffer than a snake's; adults typically reach about 50 centimeters, occasionally 57.5 centimeters, with females often bearing a spinal stripe and dark sides, males sometimes showing blue dorsal spots, and juveniles golden with dark bellies and brown sides. It is remarkably long-lived, among the longest-lived lizards, reaching roughly 30 years in the wild and over 50 in captivity, sheds its tail when threatened, favors moist habitats such as gardens and allotments with long grass, and feeds mainly on slugs, snails and earthworms, making it beneficial for pest control.