Some critters unearthed in the Garden

[Hogwart]

Hi,

I hope someone here can tell me what kind of caterpillar this might be? It was about 7cm in size, never seen such a big bugger:



I just found out this is actually an Elephant Hawk Moth caterpillar...

[Hogwart]

One I've saved from the Lawnmower, its a smooth newt, I just found out...



These ones I left well alone, but I had to take some pictures...

[Geezah]

Nice sharp pics mate.

The snakes wouldn't harm you but might give you a nip.

[Bilbo_baggin]

The snakes are actually slow-worms (or grass snakes). Common in England, though I have never seen any in the wild.


Great shots.


Paul.

[rmj2663]

Actually slow worms, they are in fact legless lizards and not snakes at all.
Nice shots dude!

[willp2003]

i saw a slow worm this wknd, although it slid off before i got a good look at it. good pics

[peterc4]

great series, liking the newt

[Hogwart]

Yes, they are slow worms, I've got plenty of them living underneath a sheet of corrugated sheet metal. The bottom picture shows the little one, you see in the picture above, slightly to the right of the larger ones, which scurried away as soon as I lifted the lid.
These were actually snap shots, handheld (had the camera in one hand and the other on the sheet metal). I was surprised myself how clear they turned out to be and thanks for the encouraging comments.