In 1989 staff and volunteers at Derby Museum, who run the Derbyshire Biological Records Centre launched “The Derbyshire Reptile Survey”. Its aim was to involve the public in reporting all sightings of snakes or lizards that they see across the county, and to prepare a report on the present status of these animals. A new county-wide survey was launched in 2002 in conjunction with Derbyshire Wildlife Trust.
The UK only has six species of native reptiles, of which only four occur in Derbyshire.

                    These are:

All are protected by law to some extent or another, and all are to be cared for, not killed.

Survey forms and information sheets were prepared and distributed to libraries, museums, tourist information centres and local natural history societies. These forms showed illustrations of each reptile, the salient features for identification, and a tear-off form for completing and returning to the Records Centre. Press releases were prepared, and the survey was covered both by local newspapers and by regional television.

Response forms were collated at the end of the survey period, though we encouraged recorders to send in information at any time. Even ten years later we still the the occasional form being sent in! The data received added considerably to our knowledge of the spread and distribution of reptiles in Derbyshire, and we were even asked to make a presentation to herpetologists at Edinburgh Zoo on the method and findings of our survey.

Ten years is a long time, and the repeat survey has already been of benefit. Not only to us, but to the animals themselves, this time focussing on land ownership and perceived threats to each reptile site. In this way we can monitor how populations are coping, but also take active steps to ensure individual site owners are aware of the wildlife assets on their land.

Current Distribution Maps

The maps below are based on data currently held on computer at Derbyshire BRC as at December 2004. There are still a number of reports not yet recorded onto computer.  The number of records mapped for each species are as follows: Grass Snake 435 (222); Adder 33 (15); Common Lizard 356 (177); Slow worm 197 (145). Figures in brackets show the number of records at the beginning of 2000 Confidential or uncertain records have been excluded.

All the above maps show dots equivalent to 1km across. Hollow dots represent records prior to 1987.

Slow Worm    (image courtesy of Derbyshire Wildlife Trust)

Reptiles in Derby.  There have been a few sightings of reptiles in Derby over the years. perhaps the most unusual was that of a grass snake outside Full Street police Station in the 1970s. There have been no recent records of this species in Derby. Slow worms have been recorded in Allestree Park, whilst we have received one or two recent lizard records in Derby. As yet these have not been incorporated on our maps. Adders have never been recorded in Derby, and are not likely ever to be seen here.

New records of reptiles, whether from Derby City or the surrounding county are always welcomed by Derbyshire BRC.