Chris Packham's Wild Side Of Town by Chris Packham

Author:Chris Packham
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781472916068
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2014-04-01T16:00:00+00:00

One of nature’s track and field champions in action. This Common Frog demonstrates the reason for having those long legs, displaying behaviour that might save it from being ‘catted’ just so long as it lands in the pond. Imagine the fun you could have if it was trainable – flaming hoops, motor cycles, and other daring displays!

SCALY SLICKERS

When I was a child ‘wasteland’ was widespread throughout the city of Southampton. A corner here, a strip there, a block behind seemingly everywhere; and each patch was an oasis, a refuge, a home for so many species. Today it has all gone. Tiny houses or ugly flats have systematically filled all of those patches, the driest of which were a superb habitat for Common Lizards and Slow Worms. The delight of flipping over an old fridge top, or, after a helping heave from a mate, a length of corrugated iron to pounce upon a sleeping Slow Worm has gone from the lives of our cities’ kids.

Common Lizards and Slow Worms both have diets and lifestyles which enable urban living. All they require is a little cat-free space and some quiet. English Nature estimates a UK population of 1.2 million Common Lizards – notably declining in the south and east – and 660,000 Slow Worms – decreasing rapidly in Scotland and the East Midlands. Coincidentally, both the Adder and Grass Snake are also declining in the UK and since the 1980s have disappeared from many of their urban haunts. Allotments and larger mature gardens are the best hope for all of these ‘scaly slickers’ but these plots increasingly catch the greedy eyes of developers and sadly, current legislation means that local councils are powerless to prevent or even slow the insidious creep of ‘infilling’. What a sad price we pay to park our cars and live on top of one another.

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