REPTILES 
AND BATRACHIANS 
The physical features of a country determine to a great extent the — 
distribution of its fauna, and the county of Bedford may roughly be 
divided into two zones so far as the reptiles and batrachians are concerned. 
There is first the low land, frequently flooded, lying around the 
river Ouse which affords food and shelter to the moisture loving reptiles 
and batrachians ; secondly, the belt of warm greensand which, entering 
the county at Leighton Buzzard, passes by Woburn, Ampthill and Sandy, 
and out of the county beyond Potton. This stretch of country, undulating 
in many places and covered with woods and bracken, forms a secure 
retreat for those reptiles which love warmth, and it is in these two belts 
of land that most of the reptiles and batrachians of the county are found. 
The northern portion of Bedfordshire with its cold clay soil, and the 
southern portion with its chalk downs, are not favourable to reptilian and 
batrachian life. 
Although the orders Lacertilia and Ophidia, and the class Batrachia, 
are represented, the county cannot be considered rich in species. I have 
not been able to find the smallest of our newts, known as the palmated 
newt (Molge palmata), although I have sought for it far and wide, and 
Mr. Steele-Elliott agrees with me in thinking that it cannot be reckoned 
among our local fauna. He informs me that he has searched every likely 
looking clay pit, well, village pond, and other such waters without finding 
a trace of it. The edible, or green frog as it is sometimes called (Rana 
esculenta), is not met with outside the Woburn Park estate. Some years 
ago a number of these batrachians were imported from the continent by 
the Duke of Bedford and let loose in the gardens at Woburn Abbey, and 
the colony still continues to exist. 
The natterjack toad (Bufo calamita) is also absent. This is rather 
curious because it exists on the-borders of the counties of Cambridge and 
Hertford. 
There is no record of the smooth snake (Corone//a /evis) ever having 
been seen, and I think that it may be safely asserted that it does not exist 
in the county. Probably the same assertion may be made of the sand 
lizard (Lacerta agilis). It has been sought for diligently in the localities 
that would be likely to harbour it, and without success, but I have cap- 
tured it at Perry in Huntingdonshire, only a mile or two over the border. 
Owing to the high state of cultivation the number of individuals of 
existing species of reptiles is not great, and the number is each year get- 
ting less, the lizards and snakes being killed whenever they are met with. 
It is earnestly to be hoped that the spread of education will do something 
towards removing that foolish prejudice against creeping things which so 
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