Amphibians and Reptiles
Frogs are one of several groups of friends waiting to be discovered!
This specimen was found and relocated when BET volunteers were rebuilding a dry stone wall. Such walls provide ideal accommodation for small reptiles.
This fellow had a lucky escape as we were scything the lower meadow in Badgers Wood.
Adders can be quite a common sight on the reserves, especially in spring when the cooler mornings force the snakes to warm up in the sunshine before going off to feed. The Adder is the only venomous snake native to the UK but there have been no human fatalities for over 30 years. The female adder is brown with black zig-zag markings (see below) whilst the male is usually slightly smaller and a more grey/silver colour.
The Common Frog can usually be found on the reserves either hiding in small damp recesses of rock walls etc, or out hunting for food in the wildflower meadows or woodland edges. They regulary spawn in early spring in the reserve's ponds although the large number of newts they also contain tend to make life a bit difficult for the young tadpoles!
The Grass Snake is the most common snake found in the UK and it is a strikingly beautiful reptile. They are naturally very shy creatures so you would be very lucky to spot one. Grass snakes up to 2ft in length have been spotted in Jubilee Stone Wood but they are completely harmless. This snake was rescued from a member's pond in Backwell.
Newt
The Common Toad is also present on both reserves, but as our wildlife ponds are only a few years old as yet, we haven't seen them spawning in them to date.
