Grassland that is good for reptiles is variously grassland that is good for ants, amphibians and voles: ants create mounds of fine particles into which slow worms can burrow; grass snakes predate amphibians; and adders predate voles.

It is often described as ‘tussocky’, but grassland can look tussocky and still not be exploited by reptiles. While working on a site with adders, grass snakes, common lizards and slow worms, it occurred to me that walking across it was really hard going. Where the ground was wet, the tussocks were purple moor-grass and stood like little hay ricks. Where the ground was dry, the tussocks grew on, among and through the hummocks and hollows of sandy soil created by ants and rabbits.

So, rather than simply being an artefact of dense, rank grass yielding underfoot, the tussocks had a tough, complex structure rooted in ground that was uneven and tiring to walk through and would be impractical to mow even using a tractor.

The point being that good reptile grassland is more than vegetation alone.