(I apologise in advance for the long text that follows!)
Well, it was a beautiful sunny Saturday, so I decided to go walking with my dog Lord. I took my "snake equipment" just in case, although I wasn't 100% sure I'd find any...
As it turns out, we weren't walking for 5 minutes, when I noticed that he almost stepped on a branch lying on the road and that Lord almost stepped on it. As I got closer, I noticed that the "branch" has eyes! I started laughing and kneeled in front of it, recognizing that it was a Slow Worm, a legless lizard!
My 1st words to it were:"Aw, you little cutie, what are you doin' lying on the road? What if a car came?"
I got my bag out, put the bag in front of him and he simply went in by himself. I took him back to take pictures and when I went to release him at the same spot, I brought Lord with me, deciding to do a little experiment.
I held Lord firmly with my left hand and showed him the S.W. He didn't show interest. That changed when I put the S.W. down. He wanted to go closer, but I didn't let him. I told him (in a gentle and relaxed voice):"No, just look. We let them go." So we watched him slither into the grass.
Then, I allowed Lord to go closer to sniff the S.W., but I kept him at all times at least 10 cm from the S.W. Then I moved us both back 2 m and I had to let go of Lord so that I can put my rucksack back on. Lord sat down next to me, looked at the S.W., at me, and again towards the S.W., and just stayed there, watching.
When I told him:"OK, let's continue our walk", he passed less than 50 cm from the S.W:, but he acted as if the Slow Worm wasn't even there (which isn't his normal reaction for a situation like that)!
This picture was taken on a pillowcase. I put my finger under his head, he didn't bite me... ;) He was about 50 cm ( /- 2-3 cm).
