Now that spring is finally upon us (more or less), reptile capture work on the A338 can resume. CGO Ecology Ltd has spent this week preparing and laying 11,000 roofing felt refugia for reptiles on the Spur Road verges.

Accompanied by a Dorset Works Organisation traffic management team, the felts were laid over the last two nights with a temporary lane closure. After being left in place for at least a week, the capture will commence in late March as soon as the weather is favourable (typically on sunny days reaching at least 10-12 degrees centigrade). The entire 17km of A338 verge have to be cleared of reptiles which will be moved to adjacent land and to several other reptile-free receptor sites. This requires the whole verge to be visited 30 times. Capture began last autumn on some stretches (seven out of 30 visits completed), but many areas will still need 30 visits over the next three months. No lane closures or other traffic disruption are expected during this work.