Reptiles on Iping Common (Sussex Wildlife Trust)

Leader: Veronica Carter (HNHS member)

Conditions were perfect as our group of 10 crossed from Iping Common onto Stedham Common. It was a perfect day for reptiles to be sunning themselves. The rare lowland heath is lightly wooded with paths and firebreaks edged by heather and bracken.

Reassurance was given that no one had died of an adder bite in the UK since 1957! However, the corrugated sheets enjoyed by reptiles are lifted with due care using the edge of a thumb or a stick. The sharp-sighted spotted a couple of Common Lizards on the edge of the path before they disappeared. We watched with anticipation as several corrugated sheets were lifted yielding only ants and their larvae until the final sheet. There, at last, was a juvenile Adder recognisable by its bright brown colour and black diamond pattern, plus a Slow Worm slough, discarded like a rolled-down sock!