To use a wiki term, it's time to practice a bit of disambiguation. Several unrelated taxa have come under discussion as "blind snakes". The ones Gary in Hawaii mentioned are Typhlops braminus, probably (herpetologists are not unanimous about this) snakes, but hardly typical snakes. They are are evidently now pantropical due to the facts that they often live in potted plants and are, as mentioned, parthenogenic. Incidentally, Ernie, these are not the only parthenogenic reptiles: lizards of the genus Cnemidophorus have been known to form female-only "species" and there are others. In the south central states of the United States there is a very (superficially) similar creature called a blind snake of the genus Leptotyphlops. Typhlops and Leptotyphlops may not be as closely related as their superficial similarities might suggest. The other reptile known as blind worm is Anguis fragilis, an undoubted lizard which ranges from England across Europe and into the Mid-East. An earlier response to this thread included a link to blind worm, Anguis fragilis. If you have blind worms Anguis fragilis in your garden, consider yourself very lucky: they are predators of slugs and snails. Here in the United States we have a similar lizard called glass snake (or in modern politically correct books, glass lizard). Here in Maryland we have a tiny true snake called the worm snake: it's roughly the color of an earth worm on the upper side and a soft bright pink on the belly. It's sometimes seen in compost heaps, and I suspect that lots of people have seen them without realizing that they are snakes. It's known formally as Carphophis amoenus if you want to Google and learn more. Jim McKenney Montgomery County, Maryland, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where worm snakes sometimes stop by and check things out. -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ .