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Reptile Habitat

Reptiles in south Wales are almost entirely dependent upon the existence of suitable terrestrial habitat.   It is commonly perceived that heathland is the only habitat at which reptiles occur in number when in fact reptiles are also just as widely distributed at sizeable areas of alternative ideal habitats such as moorland, rough grassland, and sand dune systems.

However, reptiles are also often more patchily distributed across areas of other habitat varieties.   In such instances there are on occasion quite sizeable concentrations of animals present in small areas or narrow strips of habitat with lesser population densities in areas of less favourable habitat between such areas or “foci”.

When looking for reptiles in south Wales, don’t preoccupy yourself with looking for areas of heather or sand dunes.  The simple fact of the matter is that it is not so much a case of the species variety of vegetation that is the deciding factor in comprising good reptile habitat as the actual structure of the vegetation.  So what exactly does this mean? 

As a general rule, ideal reptile habitat consists of a varied and complex, messy vegetation structure, with a combination of vegetation types.  The key word here is “edges”.   Picture a mixture of plant heights.   Such habitat situations provide multiple edges, bramble or gorse banks and differing vegetation heights that meet with areas of shorter grass being a common example.   Here, reptiles can bask on the short or bare places but are seldom more than a body’s length away from the safety and protection of adjacent tangled or thorny areas.   Likely habitat vegetation types in south Wales include rough grass, gorse, bramble, herbs, and bracken.

Likely places for reptile habitat in south Wales include pond, canal or riverbanks, the edges of vegetated coastal paths,  neglected gardens and allotment plots, former industrial areas or “brownfield” sites, edges of rough pasture, woodland edges, clearings and glades, roadside verges and railway embankments, public footpaths, scrubland, cleared forestry land, quarries, collapsed overgrown stone walls, hedgerows, derelict yards, churchyards and cemeteries, forest rides, disused railway lines, bridleway and track edges.

Although South-facing slopes are ideal, any land that is not north facing can be suitable as long as sun can reach it for the greater part of the day, so consider the aspect of the site.  Steeper banks tend to be more sheltered receiving less wind and can be veritable suntraps.  Obviously north facing banks are not an option worth exploring.  Flat land however is certainly capable of supporting reptile populations if the vegetation structure is right.

When looking at your possible reptile site, try to develop an eye for localised features.  Reptiles tend to be concentrated in larger numbers on banks, ridges, hillocks and hollows.  Also check out sheltered sun exposed slopes and other undulating land features.   Small areas of sun exposed bare ground surrounded by vegetation of varying height are always worth investigating as are areas where the vegetation type and height changes noticeably.  Piles of discarded grass cuttings amongst rough vegetation, as well as piles of woodchip, logs, brash, rubble and manure can provide “safe” basking spots that are but a short dash away from impenetrable refuge.      

Even discarded objects so seemingly insignificant as cigarette packets amongst
vegetation are often utilized by lizards as basking spots.   Discarded tires, metal sheets and plastic are also favourite heat retaining haunts as are moss and lichen patches or thatches of dry grass.  Wooden boardwalks that run across wetland areas are often popular choices of basking sites for viviparous lizards.  Basically, whenever an opportunity arises to go looking in previously unexplored but likely habitat, then do so.  Once a person gets over the perceived barrier of “only looking at recommended sites” and starts to think for his or herself regarding likely locations then they will start to notch up their sightings.

Consider the size of the site.  Is it likely to be large enough to support a population?  In the case of lizards, it may well be, as populations can eek out an existence at very narrow strips of habitat or patches of a few hundred square metres.  When it comes to snakes however, the situation is very different.  Ideally tens of hectares (one hectare is roughly equivalent to two and a half acres) are required to support a snake population of any significance.  When compared with adders, grass snakes can often crop up in seemingly small habitat areas.  Grass snakes have a very different lifestyle to adders however and are by far the most transient of all reptile species in south Wales, often traversing stretches of unsuitable habitat, a trait that is unique among British reptiles.

Do you or can you find out information regarding the history of the site?  There may well be historical reasons why reptiles may not be present.  For example, the habitat site may only have been in its current state for two or three years such as would be the case with agricultural set-aside or tree clearance.  Reptiles can take their time to colonise such habitats naturally, and on occasion, although habitat may well have been established for a period of time long enough for reptiles to have colonised, a lack of traversable corridors linking to nearby occupied habitat can mean that they are unlikely to ever arrive.

Corridors such as hedgerows and habitat strips such as railway embankments are essential for recolonisation.  Areas of heathland ravaged by fire for example cannot be recolonised if no such corridors exist for animals to travel along.  Set aside areas which are surrounded by inhospitable intensive arable farmland can rapidly develop into ideal reptile habitat, but will not be colonised unless corridors connecting to existing reptile populations such as hedgerows or roadside verges are in place.

Some sites can support all four species of Welsh reptiles, if they happen to be large and diverse enough.  The individual species do however have slightly differing requirements and more often than not, sites in south Wales that hold reptiles do not support colonies of all four species.  

Viviparous lizards are commonly seen basking on protruding objects such as tree stumps, fence-posts and discarded objects such as tires and corrugated metal sheeting.  Concentrations of lizards are encountered along the edges of footpaths, and bramble or gorse patches and roadside verges.  They often frequent areas of stiff grass tussocks or other tangled vegetation such as bramble, gorse or heather that they are comfortable climbing amongst in pursuit of invertebrate prey or to access elevated basking positions particularly when it comes to the low sun of a summers evening.

In contrast, slow-worms live a secretive, chiefly subterranean existence in a wide variety of habitats, but commonly in rough or lush grass.  They are often found in gardens and allotments in neglected areas and compost heaps, but also appear beneath refugia in heathland, brownfield sites and bracken covered hillsides.

Adders are regularly found in bracken banks, woodland edges and gorse and scrub patches within a wider landscape of rough grassland, heath, woodland or moorland.

Grass snakes visit fresh water bodies to feed earlier on in the season but tend to move towards summer time habitats such as rank grass, bramble, herbs, heath in pursuit of amphibian prey which is chiefly terrestrial during the summer.   Grass snakes are also regularly encountered mid journey at field margins, in gardens and along hedgerows.

To recap briefly, when investigating a site for reptiles consider the following basic pointers;

• Site vegetation structure
• Aspect of site
• Localised features
• Overall site area size
• Site history
• Green corridor access to site from other colonies

 
Having found a site which meets all of the above the criteria, you may well have discovered the right place to look.   However the site still fails to produce reptiles.  Don’t give up!  There are other factors to consider, reptiles don’t make it easy for you to find them.  Other considerations are;

• When to look
• How to look

The above two subjects are dealt with here