THE SLOW- WORM, ANGUIS FRAGILIS 35 



result of much watching of them in nature has been to 

 convince me that their one aim in life as far as food is 

 concerned is to find good fat slugs, not too large. The 

 number of these that a slow-worm will eat during an 

 hour or so about sunset, when they feed most, is 

 simply astonishing. I can vouch for a meal which 

 consisted of seventeen slugs, the slow-worm being a 



large male 16 inches long. But the usual number 

 taken seems to be from four to ten. Doubtless they 

 feed during the night also, but not during the heat of 

 the sun. In other words, when the slugs emerge from 

 beneath stones and debris, then comes the slow-worm 

 also. It is thus quite evident that a few slow-worms 

 in a garden would be the best friends the gardener 

 could have, but he, poor, ignorant, prejudiced fool, 

 never loses an opportunity of slaughtering every one 

 he finds on the estate. Surely it is not too much to 

 expect that every field naturalist who comes in contact 

 with people who have to work on the land should 

 take the trouble to point out the economic value of 

 our reptiles, and thus both save interesting lives of 

 harmless creatures and at the same time prevent the 

 disturbing of the balance of nature. 



Very interesting to v/atch is the slow-worm feeding. 

 The whole process is carried out very methodically and 

 deliberately, and with evident satisfaction. The slug 

 is seldom taken except when moving, and, as far as I 

 have seen, never when dead. The slow-worm either 

 gradually approaches or allows the slug to approach 



