Ian Alexander had arranged for us to meet a forest ranger in Wareham Forest, another species on Paul’s hit list. It only took a few minutes before he located one and took the opportunity to check and measure it and record the unique pattern of scales on the head and neck which are as diagnostic for Smooth Snakes as fingerprints are to us.
Smooth Snake, our rarest native reptile.
I held the snake whilst the ranger completed his paperwork and it duly bit me. I'm glad he wasn't studying Adders!
In the evening Margaret and I visited Paul’s parents and met up with Paul’s wife Liz, his daughter Bryony and grandson Harvey Paul. Fortunately Bryony has got married, so his grandson is not Harvey Paul Harvey!
L - R - Liz Harvey, Harvey Paul Edmonson and Bryony Edmonson
18 months old and with a fascination for tractors
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