Dom Greves filmed this amazing behaviour a year or so ago. Fascinating behaviour not usually seen firsthand....
[video=vimeo;9444799]http://vimeo.com/9444799[/video]
[video=vimeo;9444799]http://vimeo.com/9444799[/video]
Excellent film on adders in Dorset..
- Thread starter JonathanD
- Start date
There is one male adder in my closest survey site that climbs trees to get a better sunbathing position. Every August, without fail for the last four years, he has been nestled in the first fork which is some eight feet off the ground. The tree is an oak and to watch him climb this vertical surface is amazing. He bolts into a hole if he is disturbed. I've never seen him come down, but in my experience it would be more of a fall than a descent.
What a great watch, especially as someone who has only seen these amazing creatures on the tv or in books.
Couple of questions if you dont mind
Is this behaviour only when emerging from hibernation?
Are they ever territorial ?
When do they start needing to feed?
What time of the year do they mate?
What are the best tips you have for a glance of them in the wild?
Couple of questions if you dont mind
Is this behaviour only when emerging from hibernation?
Are they ever territorial ?
When do they start needing to feed?
What time of the year do they mate?
What are the best tips you have for a glance of them in the wild?
In groups of males and females like this, yes. The hibernaculum will be near by and they choose the best place to charge up and absorb the suns rays. The females will emerge from hibernation a couple of weeks later, rest up and bask. Then the males will soon begin to shed their skins and take on their brighter breeding colours and begin to attempt to mate.
Not especially, males do partake in combat with other males over a female they both come across (see dance of adders). After mating they usually disperse to other areas which can be a couple of miles from their hibernaculum and mating grounds. Individuals can then sit in and around the same spot before they come back to the hibernation sites in early autumn. They are then spread out over quite an area, so territory isn't uppermost on the adder mind and the odd one or two may still be found together (both sexes). In September the females will head back to the hibernation area to give birth a week or so later. They don't eat for quite a period then until they give birth. Males will still be dispersed, but they will start to head back in late September/October.
Usually after they have mated. Everything else is secondary (apart from basking) until that has happened. You can even see lizards basking in, around, or even on adders after emerging from hibernation. Any other time of the Spring and Summer, they are on the menu.
Depends where you are in the Country. Down South it can start late February/early March if the weather is good. Add a week for every 100 miles you go North. It can then last a couple of weeks, again, weather depending. The hotter it is, the earlier it takes place and over a shorter period. Adders have already started emerging from hibernation, and this is the best time of year to see them.
Get up early, about an hour after dawn, and walk softly and slowly. They will come out on overcast days, but slightly later. The colder it is, the less inclined they are to move from a basking spot if they sense you. In warm weather with direct sunlight, they will shoot off quickly. If you haven't found any by 1pm, give up. They don't usually hang around much after mid day.
Thanks for taking the time to reply to all of my questions they really are fascinating creatures. If i am off out to find some of these guys are there any tell tale signs that they may be about, such as pellets, markings, smells etc? What is the distribution like in the northwest? Sorry for further questions but i would love to see one of these guys in the flesh-scales
They don't leave any markings or sign at all and have no scent or smell (adders don't, but grass snakes do release a pungent fluid when threatened). The most common sign is the adders themselves, although you may come across the odd sloughed skin wound around heather or bracken.
