As recorder for reptiles in Oxfordshire for the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust, when I’m out and about I’ve learnt to walk slowly with my eyes fixed on the ground.

I tread carefully, stopping at regular intervals, creating as little vibration as possible and trying to avoid casting shadows. It’s exciting work and one of the highlights for me is managing to get up close and personal to a slow worm, a shy but beautiful lizard that has the appearance of polished marble.

Although often mistaken for a snake, the slow worm is in fact a lizard without legs. And there are a number of differences that set it apart from the snake. The most important is they have small eyes with eyelids that blink like lizards — whereas a snake can only give a hard stare. Slow worms also have the ability to shed their tails in order to escape predators, just as lizards do, which then regrow, but remain smaller. The skin of the slow worm is also wonderfully smooth with scales that do not overlap one another. I remember stroking a slow worm as a boy and being amazed.

If you are lucky, you could have a chance encounter with a slow worm not far from your own doorstep. Gardens, allotments and waste ground in urban areas in Oxfordshire are all prime locations. They prefer a mix of warm, sunny, short, open areas, dense ground, plants and scrub. Sites with warm, sunny slopes and banks are always worth a look — and sun-baked railway embankments often act as corridors for them to colonise new sites. If you’d like to take a trip to a Trust nature reserve, head to Chinnor Hill, or to Sydlings Copse just 3½ miles north-east of Oxford.

Unlike their sun-worshipping cousins — the grass snake, adder and common lizard — slow worms tend not to bask in the open; instead, they seek cover. The best places to look are under logs, planks, paving slabs — even dumped rubbish!

Their lack of legs is a distinct advantage when moving through thick vegetation or the root layer of plants. They are also active at twilight, often hiding away during the main part of the day.

With its diet of slugs and snails the slow worm is the gardener’s friend and it is particularly fond of the small white slug, which I often find turning my lettuces into lace.

Slow worms are easy to encourage into your patch, and with numbers decreasing nationwide, doing your little bit could help these animals to thrive in Oxfordshire.

Try to provide an area of rough grass with a sheet of tin, carpet or roofing felt for them to shelter under. And don’t be too fussy about moving bits of old rubble from the unused parts of your plot.

Be careful when digging or disturbing compost heaps during the hibernation period (from October to March). Finally, avoid the use of slug pellets and find a cheaper way of control such as beer traps. With luck, the slow worms will control any surplus.

If you would like to find out more about encouraging wildlife where you live, visiting Trust nature reserves in Oxfordshire or finding out about becoming a member of your local Wildlife Trust, please go to www.bbowt.org.uk or call 01865 775476.