Vicarious living

Other than typing these words, I play very little part at the sharp end of this blogpost.

The scene: at work, mid afternoon. An email arrives. It's from Our Lass.

Odd, I muse, she rarely contacts me at work unless something's broken or developed a technical malfunction. Car, computer, television, light bulb, bottle opener, that sort of thing.

The email header suggests otherwise, however.

"Garden tick".

I surmise that she's either been bitten by a very small invertebrate or the nature-watching bug.

As it turns out, it was the latter.

The email went on, "Slow-worm by pond".

Now, you could count the number of times we've seen a Slow-worm, Anguis fragilis, on the fingers of one hand. And none of the sightings have been in Milton Keynes.

Wow!

Predictably, I mail back, "Photo?"

"Too quick, " comes the reply.

So not too much of a slow-worm, then.

STOP PRESS, 27/05/12: After a two day stake-out, Our Lass spots the creature again. Once more, it disappears in an instant. I manage one glimpse and a photo at range.

Grass snake, Natrix natrix

Not good news for the local frog population!