Major New Species - Grass Snake

Yes - after nine years I have seen the first Natrix helvetica on site. I have only just caught up with the redesignation of the UK Grass Snake as N. helvetica rather than N. natrix. It is now the Barred Grass Snake apparently. Apart from my small pond and the neighbour's overgrown pond in the middle of his chicken run there isn't much water in the immediate vicinity but a serious Grass Snake (maybe an inch across and three or four feet long) raced away when I moved an upturned wheelbarrow on the large compost heap. There was a Slow Worm with the snake as well, who true to his name took a lot longer to make his escape. The snake left behind this skin. I replaced the wheelbarrow as this was possibly a breeding nest.