They are awake at last. Spring is coming fast. Only males so far, another three weeks and the lazy females will be out.
Adders wake up
- Thread starter JonathanD
- Start date
How far south are you? Up here in Scotland around my way I'd start seeing them Aprilish but maybe I just missed earlier ones? Great pics by the way.
This season I will be wearing mainly wellies...
I've only ever seen one Adder - Gareloch training area in 1987.
Lots of bracken where I am, basking spots etc., but not a glimpse.
Hmmm, mind you my wellies flapping about probably means they can hear me well before I'm near.
Great photos, did you take them yourself JD?
Liam
I've only ever seen one Adder - Gareloch training area in 1987.
Lots of bracken where I am, basking spots etc., but not a glimpse.
Hmmm, mind you my wellies flapping about probably means they can hear me well before I'm near.
Great photos, did you take them yourself JD?
Liam
Seems they are out as far up as North Staffs so far according to other reports. I'm on the South Staffs/West Mids/Worcs border and was out to see a client. Finished early and went bimbling for an hour. Saw 23 males in total and there was still frost on the ground in shaded areas. There were a few Common lizards too. No sightings of Slwworms or Grass snakes though.
It's been a very long time since I last saw one, beautiful creatures and sadly maligned for no very good reason.
More people have actually been killed by the direct effects of lightning strikes than adder bites - it's a pity more of the people who routinely stamp on anything snake shaped don't also carry on playing golf in thunderstorms.
Thanks for the pics Jonathan - lovely to see.
More people have actually been killed by the direct effects of lightning strikes than adder bites - it's a pity more of the people who routinely stamp on anything snake shaped don't also carry on playing golf in thunderstorms.
Thanks for the pics Jonathan - lovely to see.
Those are brill pictures, well done. I had one slither thru my camp daily when it went to hunt on the lake shore on a Swedish trip a few years back, after the first time all bags were kept off the ground and sealed 
, certainly inspires you to keep a tidy camp
Although mine is a lot darker, is it in fact an Adder ?
Wonderful to watch anyway.
Stephen
, certainly inspires you to keep a tidy camp Although mine is a lot darker, is it in fact an Adder ?
Wonderful to watch anyway.
Stephen
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They do actually, very very well. It is unusual though. I have a male that favours an oak tree over the heathland. Very often you can expect to see him there in the later months of the year about 7ft off the ground. The first time I saw him about five years ago, I thought someone had stuck him up there. Incredible to watch him climb.
Those are brill pictures, well done. I had one slither thru my camp daily when it went to hunt on the lake shore on a Swedish trip a few years back, after the first time all bags were kept off the ground and sealed
Although mine is a lot darker, is it in fact an Adder ?
Wonderful to watch anyway.
Stephen
Actually, it is a lighter colour than we get here. It's a female, sub adult just going through pre-slough by the looks of it. The Adder is the only viper that occurs that far north. Beautiful example of the colour variations you get with them.
Taken in Sweden? I'd say definitely an adder. There are some european vipers which are superficially similar to vipera berus, none of them found as far North as Sweden. Adders can be found in colours ranging from brick red to a pale olive green - melanistic ones are pretty common in places.
Other similar species:
Vipera ursinii is remarkably close in both patterning and the wide variety of colours, but is significantly smaller and far more Southerly in range.
Vipera aspis again a similar range of colours but usually a more pronounced 'snout' and the pattern is more barred than the typical fat zig zag of the Adder. Found further South and in a more restricted range than V. Ursinii
Vipera ammodytes similar patterning but has a very pronounced 'horn' on the tip of it's snout.
Vipera dinniki Russian... rare! Not found in Sweden.
Vipera latastei Southwestern Europe only - again with a pronounced 'horn' or snub nose, more likely to be confused with V. ammodytes
Cheers,
Great pics Jonathan
I've not seen one since a school trip to Ilkley Moor, beautiful looking creatures.
We had an Indiana Jones moment at Chichen Itza in Mexico once. We were wandering round an area of stone columns when the wife just suddenly turned and ran off. I looked down and there must have been thirty or more snakes on the ground around my feet, we'd walked into a shaded area and not noticed them at all. No idea what they were as I didn't stick around long enough to find out.
I like snakes but only from a distance.
I've not seen one since a school trip to Ilkley Moor, beautiful looking creatures.
We had an Indiana Jones moment at Chichen Itza in Mexico once. We were wandering round an area of stone columns when the wife just suddenly turned and ran off. I looked down and there must have been thirty or more snakes on the ground around my feet, we'd walked into a shaded area and not noticed them at all. No idea what they were as I didn't stick around long enough to find out.
I like snakes but only from a distance.
when camping last autumn at great tower (scout campsite in the lake district)
i asked the wardens if they had many adders having noticed perfect habitat for them in many places
i was told not to be silly there are no snakes around!
later that day i saw 2 of the 3 spotted by the group i was with (ssago group) and althogh none were actually on the site all were within a mile or so!
i asked the wardens if they had many adders having noticed perfect habitat for them in many places
i was told not to be silly there are no snakes around!
later that day i saw 2 of the 3 spotted by the group i was with (ssago group) and althogh none were actually on the site all were within a mile or so!
That very day I was asked what I was looking for by a friendly dog walker. After I told him, he chuckled at me and told me he'd been coming up there with his dogs for ten years and that there were no adders up there anymore if there ever had been. At that point I'd found about 12 and went on to find another 11. I didn't argue with him.
Your first picture JD looks like a snake with Two heads.
I have to admit I'm not one for snakes I'm afraid.
I'd sooner go where there aren't many.
Mind you I did see a few then I lived on Epsom common, and I had one in my front garden with a frog in it's mouth, plus one adder on Dartmoor.
I have to admit I'm not one for snakes I'm afraid.
I'd sooner go where there aren't many.
Mind you I did see a few then I lived on Epsom common, and I had one in my front garden with a frog in it's mouth, plus one adder on Dartmoor.
Where I go for a bimble (the Dundas, Hopetoun and Rosebery Estates) there is plenty of bracken, heather, grassland and south facing patches that would make good basking spots.
My questions are; what effect would an adder bite have on a fit, 18month old dog, (Border Collie size) and what effect would the bite have on a youth/adult?
I was going to google it, but I know how knowledgeable folk on here are.
It's a question that can't really be answered easily as there are too many variables e.g. size of snake, amount of venom injected, depth of penetration, time of year (venom more potent in Spring), aggressiveness of snake, health of victim, size of victim, location of bite... the list goes on. Drop for drop, adder venom is very potent and ranks above a Timber Rattlesnake, but it is smaller and so are its fangs and venom glands, so it is unlikely to deliver a lethal dose, but it has happened. Dogs die every year from adder bite, but do have a slight immunity that humans don't have. And again, depends on the size, age and health of the dog, as well as where it was bitten.
In short, it is something far removed from a wasp sting as some internet rumours suggest, and is a very unpleasant thing to go through. I've been bitten by a few venomous snakes, including a large female Puff Adder. The adder bite I received when in my late teens was the most painful experience I have ever had to endure. It also has a blend of cytotoxic, neurotoxin and haemotoxic venom.
In this day and age though, and with the medical facilities we have, adder envenomation should not pose much of a problem for a healthy person. On a dog of your description, a bite with full envenomation would make the area bitten swell considerably to a hideous size and make your dog seriously ill for a few days to a couple of weeks. In extreme circumstances if bitten in a major artery, it could kill. Nineteen times out of twenty though, even when dogs have gone right up to a basking adder and had a good sniff, the adder retreats into the undergrowth, it is rare that an adder gets surprised by a dog, and the very last resort is to bite when there is no immediate cover for it to find.
Most adder bites on dogs occur during mating season(April/May), when males become braver and are actively travelling over areas normally shunned, all in the pursuit of a female.
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Great pictures.
I have yet to see my first of the year but it's still damn cold here on the east coast of Norfolk.
I have yet to see my first of the year but it's still damn cold here on the east coast of Norfolk.
Thanks for the reply Jonathon.
That's kind of what I suspected regarding the variables in each case.
Certainly food for thought. The habitat seems about right around here, but I imagine they hear me before they see me and head off - thankfully.
I regularly see stoats, and mink on the estates here, but never an adder nor a grass snake - not to say they aren't here, I imagine they probably move off when they sense me blundering along.
I've been bitten/stung by the smaller denizens of the flying, hopping, crawling world, I don't envy your first hand experience with the adders!
This season, I shall continue to wear my steel toecapped wellies in that case, and hang a cowbell around the dog's collar (well it worked for the children in long grass etc).
Thanks again,
Liam
That's kind of what I suspected regarding the variables in each case.
Certainly food for thought. The habitat seems about right around here, but I imagine they hear me before they see me and head off - thankfully.
I regularly see stoats, and mink on the estates here, but never an adder nor a grass snake - not to say they aren't here, I imagine they probably move off when they sense me blundering along.
I've been bitten/stung by the smaller denizens of the flying, hopping, crawling world, I don't envy your first hand experience with the adders!
This season, I shall continue to wear my steel toecapped wellies in that case, and hang a cowbell around the dog's collar (well it worked for the children in long grass etc).
Thanks again,
Liam
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