Reptiles in South Bucks

Although I now live in Merseyside, I am originally from South Buckinghamshire. When I was a kid (in the late 1960's and early 1970's) reptiles such as Grass snakes, adders, slow-worms and Common Lizards dould be found quite frequently at various localities (I'm not sure if I should name specific sites here.) Now, on the occasions I visit my original haunts, although some habitat has disappeared completely or changed from heathland to total tree cover, others still do not appear to contain reptiles, certainly not snakes, even where some suitable habitat remains.

I would be very interested to hear from anyone now living in the South Bucks area as to what they find there now. It appears to me that there has been an enormous reduction in reptiles, especially snakes, in what was 30 odd years ago a very productive area for them.

Edited by mikebrown

Hi Andy!

At last someone has responded to the above message!

The area I mostly knew was around Gerrards Cross, where there was some heathland and plenty of Grass Snakes, Slow-Worms and Common Lizards. Adders used to occur at several sites south of there.

Where do you live?

Cheers,

Mike Brown

Mike, I'm sure reptile numbers have decreased in recent years all over the country and you are probably correct in what you say about about your old haunts.

However, you have to take factors like time of the year or even time of the day into consideration, especially if you are thinking back over several years. 

For example, I was looking in a pond in Saffron Walden, in Essex last September, a place I remembered being very good for newts when I was a child.  I got a bit depressed to see no newts at all and decided, in my usual nostalgic fashion that the pond wasn't what it used to be when I was a nipper.  However, I went back there the other day to find the thing teeming with newts, just like the old days.  The moral of the story is that Spring is the best time for spotting most herps.

Is it possible you were just revisiting your old spots out of season?

I don't know S. Bucks, but I've had it on good authority Burnham Beeches is good for Adders.  Is that N. Bucks?

HI ALL great to see how many from the forum know of  Burnham beeches as an adder spot I can as Tony remember it from many years ago the motto among us young herps in the late 1950s was want to see and catch adders go to Burnham Beeches if you could rustle up the price of the  fare on a LT Greenline coach and go through Tony ,s favourite town via other buses of the time I think quite few of Epping forest adders owe their origin from there and the likes of George Malenoir ................................... KEITH 

Edited by AGILIS