Digging out the compost heap to prepare the beds for garlic planting, suddenly a rubbery bundle fell out of the centre.
Grass snake eggs
A full clutch of grass snake eggs, full with young embryos. Around twenty six in all , but one got damaged in the reveal.
This set me a problem as I had dug away the compost heap where they had been laid.
The interior was soft and well rotted and well insulated from the cold. The only thing I could do was to dig a hole down in the thickest part of the heap to the depth that the eggs were laid. Then lining it with the soft rotted compost, gently place the eggs onto it. I carefully filled the hole to the top with the same rotted compost to protect the eggs. To make sure I also laid a piece of board over the top of the area and piled un-rotted coarse material on top for further insulation, the board spreading the weight.
So now I hope that they will get through to Spring when it is time to hatch out. This area of the compost heap cannot be touched until later in Spring when they should have all dispersed hopefully into the garden.
A salutary warning though to always use a fork to break compost heaps open. The fork tines are less likely to cause too much damage, unlike a spade that would have sliced right through the clutch with more casualties than just the one egg as in this case.
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