900 slow worms were relocated last year to a Wildlife Trust site and 100 to Dallow Downs in Luton. The local Wildlife Trust conducted a survey here and found that some had survived the winter. It was decided they could do with a helping hand so BTCV were asked by Luton Borough Council to construct Hibernaculum’s (places for slow worms to hibernate).
Naturally we were very interested, as many of us (including me) had never seen one before let alone constructed a hibernaculum for them. So, by the end of the day I’d seen a slow worm and we’d learnt how to dig a hole and fill it again …
… sorry, I meant to mention that we did it in a fashion suited to slow worms!
Above: John Anderson digging a 2 ft deep hole, in a one and a half metres square. There are many different designs so precision on measurements was not an issue.
Above: The underlying deposits are chalk on this site and as digging goes, it was relatively easy – apart from the heat. The idea was to keep the larger bits of chalk (not the small & dusty bits) to go back into the hole (you’ll see in a bit).
Above: Time to admire the flora of the area. A common spotted orchid (there are thousands on this site).
Above: John Anderson is always at the centre of everything. Here he is filling the hole with logs and rubble.
To help save the environment, we did not buy or have any materials delivered to the site, we used natural materials (logs) and rubble that had been fly tipped on the site. Slow worms like to hibernate in crevices so throwing in layers of rubble and logs creates plenty of crevices for them to worm their way into.
Above: When the logs and rubble were in the hole(and John Anderson was out … hopefully), we put the bits of chalk carefully saved from the digging, back on top.
Above: The only evidence left is some chalk on top of the grass where it was underneath at the beginning of the day!
Above: At the end of the day, I finally saw a slow worm. Unfortunately, it was dead. Maybe something had started eating it – but that is nature for you. After all, early birds do catch worms!