The ‘tail’ of Ireland’s only reptile

I GOT an excited email the other day from a neighbour who was planting trees and saw a strange animal.

Two excellent photographs arrived in my in-box and they confirmed the animal was a male common lizard.

The common lizard, also called the viviparous lizard, is the only reptile in Ireland. Years ago, a legless lizard, called a slow-worm, was released illegally in the Burren and may still survive there — if anyone knows, tel me — but the common lizard is our only native reptile.