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Female
 Before
the impact of large scale farming, much of England and
Wales was covered in heath land between extensive
forests. In recent times, however, these heath lands
have been decimated.
Today dry lowland heath is the world's rarest habitat,
and the tiny areas of it which remain in the UK make up
40% of that total. We are therefore custodians of nearly
half of the dry lowland heath left in the world, and its
occupants which include one of the world's rarest
lizards, (Lacerta agilis) the Sand Lizard.
Male
 The
sand lizard used to be much more common even fifty years
ago than it is now, but it was probably never very
widespread within historical times. Very little is known
about its history in Britain before the 19th century.
It presumably arrived in Britain some time after the
last Ice Age ended about 11,000 years ago. During the
freezing conditions of the Ice Age, the sand lizard and
other warmth loving species would have been restricted
southern Europe.
Only when the ice sheets melted did they make their way
northwards into Britain. This must have happened before
Britain was separated from the continent by sea level
rise, about 8,000 years ago. There is no record of sand
lizards from archaeological sites so it is difficult to
know anything about its history in Britain.
Birds
Beasts
Serpents
Pigs
Chickens
Ducks
Cattle
Dogs Smooth Snake
Adder Grass Snake
Sand Lizard
Slow Worm
Viviparous Lizard
Newt
Red Squirrel |
