Having to swerve and brake violently to avoid running over my second snake when cycling by the river, I was curious to know what make of snake was having such an impact on my journey. Well, not impact… but you know what I mean!

Good old interweb! (Have you noticed how hand-held devices are turning us into obsessed learning machines?)

Discover how all of this relates to Bloom’s Taxonomy of learning strategies.

We have 3 snakes: one endangered (the Smooth Snake) and in dangerously low numbers; one innocuous Grass Snake and the ‘other one’. The Adder. (He who should be, if not obeyed, definitely avoided, in my opinion! You may beg to differ, of course.)

This time, I was a little quicker with my camera and managed, though I missed the interesting front end, to film the back end slipping into the undergrowth.

When relating my, ahem, tail, it was suggested that it might have been a Slow Worm (a legless lizard. And I don’t mean an amphibian out on the razzle!)

But I used to ‘have’ one when I was 8. As much as you can have a Slow Worm for a pet. Can’t remember how I got this thing. Another kid gave it to me. (That’s my defence!) I thought it was wonderful and made a house for it in a cardboard box from the supermarket. It was packaging for Vienna biscuits, so guess what my ‘snake’ was called!

Well, anyway, I hadn’t ‘owned’ it long before it moved on. This accomplished escapologist was probably male and unimpressed with my calling him, Vienna! Obviously thought he could do better elsewhere!

I must point out it was before Ultravox made the name trendy!

What’s the point of this rambling?

Learning.

Informal learning.

I now know more about the snakes in the UK than I did before, and that the two I’ve seen are Grass Snakes, thanks to t’internet and curiosity and a fun learning event while out on me bike.

BTW, I don’t recommend learning by swerving necessarily, but it does seem to help!