Fauna of Ireland bear mtDNA. The closest surviving brown bear is Ursus arctos middendorffi in Alaska. Only one land reptile is native to the country, the viviparous lizard. It is common in national parks, particularly in the Wicklow Mountains. Slowworms are common in parts of The Burren area in County Clare, but they are not a native species and were probably introduced in the 1970s. Five marine turtle species appear regularly off the west coast, the leatherback, green, hawksbill, loggerhead, and Kemp's ridley, but they very rarely come ashore. Legend attributes the absence of snakes in Ireland to Saint Patrick, who is said
USS Loggerhead (SS-374) these islands, the enemy shore batteries surprised her with hot fire. Evading the bursts of the Japanese shells through skillful maneuvers, "Loggerhead" escaped undamaged. She arrived at Fremantle on 19 July. The end of hostilities on 15 August found "Loggerhead" two days out of Fremantle heading for the Gulf of Siam on her second war patrol. She put in Subic Bay on 22 August, departed for the United States 31 August via Pearl Harbor, and arrived at San Francisco 22 September 1945. "Loggerhead" was decommissioned at Mare Island Navy Yard 16 June 1946 and was placed in the Pacific Reserve