A rare find

Hampshire’s diverse habitats attract all of Britain’s six native species of reptiles

- Hannah Graves

Britain is home to six native species of reptiles, and here in Hampshire we are lucky enough to have all of them.

You’ve probably heard of grass snakes, adders, common lizards and slow worms and you may even have seen some of them, but did you know that Hampshire’s sandy heathlands are one of a few locations in the UK where the rarest of scaly creatures – smooth snakes and sand lizards – can be found? Preferred habitats vary between each of the six species, but generally they like areas of grassland to hunt in with scrubby cover nearby and can often be spotted basking in the sun to warm up.