NHF excursion 2008, part two

The next thing was a couple of stålorm, Anguis fragilis. Actually three, but one got away before we managed to catch it. These animals can throw their tails to confuse predators, and one of 'ours' did. They both played dead when we'd caught them, which this species tends to do.

In this shot I think it really shows that they are actually lizards and not snakes. Look at that head. (And see the piece of tail in P's right hand ... !)

Because they were so passive we were able to pose them a little and get some shots that really showed their coloring and scales.

A while later we found a couple more of these critters. Interesting, as it really let us see the variety of color morphs within this species.