Slow cooker! RSPCA rescue slow worm stuck in barbecue equipment

News Desk
Authored by News Desk
Posted Friday, April 20, 2018 - 3:38pm

If you are planning to dig out the barbeque tools and enjoy the sunshine this weekend you may get more than you bargained for!

A woman had a shock when house sitting for friends after she discovered a slow worm wedged in a BBQ tool.

RSPCA Animal Collection Officer Paul Adams was called yesterday (April 19) by a member of the public who found the slow worm in a shed in the garden in Exeter.

The slow worm was completely stuck and ACO Adams had to take him - still stuck in the tool - to RSPCA West Hatch Animal Centre.

Staff at the centre eventually had to use a saw to carefully cut the slow worm freet. She is now being cared for at the centre and will be released once she is fully recovered in a couple of days.

ACO Adams said: “This slow worm really was stuck fast!

“I’m glad she was able to be freed and hopefully she can now be released back into the wild where she belongs. Think she’ll be staying away from barbeques for a while though!”

Further information about slow worms

  • Britain's only legless lizard - you can tell because they have eyelids and flat, forked tongue.
  • Widespread throughout Britain (although absent from Ireland), slow worms are often found in hedgerows and gardens; they particularly like compost heaps as, unlike most other reptiles, they prefer to hide and absorb heat rather than basking in the open.
  • They can drop their tail to escape when threatened by a predator.
  • Not very large; only around 35-40 cm.
  • Slow worms do not lay eggs but incubate their young internally, 'giving birth' in late summer.
  • Males are a greyish brown and females are brown with dark sides. Some females possess a thin line down the back.
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