For those who don't live in Caithness or Sutherland this was an article published in the John O Groats Journal.
I have only once been lucky enough to see an adder (Vipera berus). Whilst I was delighted, a friend who was with me didn’t want to know. Shouts of “Its dangerous” and “It will bite” were all she would say as she headed quickly in the other direction. The snake had by this point disappeared into the undergrowth, I’m not sure who was more frightened, it or my friend.
So why do adders have this reputation? They are Britain’s only species of venomous snake and they do have red eyes, both these facts do separate it from the cute and the cuddly. But it really is an incredible creature that, I think, does not deserve the stigma it receives.
Adders are a species of viper, so are venomous. They are the most northerly found species of viper and live right up into the Swedish Arctic Circle. They are also one of the most widespread species of snake in the world, from Scotland to Korea! They also have one of the most highly developed mechanisms known in nature for injecting venom. When they bite they use hollow fangs in the upper roof of their jaw to inject venom into their prey. This is very, very dangerous if you are a small rodent and very successful if you are the snake. The snake will lie in wait, using its zig- zag dorsal pattern to camouflage it amongst the vegetation, waiting for passing rodents or looking out young birds, once it strikes it will wait for its prey to die and then swallow it whole. Special connective tissue in the skull means the adder can dislocate its jaws allowing it to swallow prey larger than its own head. They also have some of the strongest digestive juices in the animal kingdom and can digest almost everything feather to bone, only the teeth and hair passing through. I realise all of this is the stuff of nightmares, and I’m not yet doing a particularly good job of changing opinions about the Adder...
But, adders are not aggressive, most bites to humans (although serious) are accidents. There have been no deaths caused by adder bites in over 20 years and statistically there have been far more deaths caused by bee stings than by adders. As with the adder I saw, they just want to get out of your way!
This is probably the best time of year to see adders. They emerge in February or early March from hibernation and can be often seen basking in the spring sunshine. Adders, as a species of reptile, are cold blooded .This meaning they cannot regulate their own body temperature and need to use other sources of heat to do so- they warm up their bodies in the sun. Often at Forsinard we see them basking on the tracks and trails, using sun warmed rocks to increase their body temperature. This photo was taken last week by some of our researchers. It shows a female adder basking on one of the tracks. A female adder is larger than the male, she can be between 50 and 70cm long and the male is 20-55cm long. Adders vary in colour from very pale to very dark but the differentiating feature between males and females is that the zig zag pattern is always black in males and brown in females.
Female Adder at Forsinard copyright Nick Littlewood
Basking in the sun this female adder shows off her zig-zag patterning perfectly! Copyright Nick Littlewood
Approximately a month after coming out of hibernation (so about now!) Adders have their breeding season. For the first few weeks after emerging and before mating adders do very little apart from basking, they do not eat in the month between emerging and mating, living off the fat reserves they had stored the previous year! Once the male has shed his skin he is ready to mate. He uses scent trails to find a female. When an adder finds a mate he often isn’t the only male there, if this happens the first male will aggressively defend his female in a wonderful display called the “Dance of the Adder”. The males will sidle up to one another, they fight, repeatedly entwining their bodies and partly rising off the ground with the aim of pushing each other over. They will often do this at speed, racing along the ground. The victor is usually the biggest and most powerful snake. More than two males can be involved in these contests of strength.
The female adder gives birth to live young in early September. In reptiles this is called being viviparous, giving birth to live young rather than laying eggs. The common lizard (Lacerta Zootoca vivipera) we get here are also viviparous, the young are born encased in a membrane, the same as the adder. I was very lucky last year at Forsinard to see a lizard giving birth. This is a very unusual thing to witness as they would usually be in a burrow or safe place and not just on the path! I didn’t watch for long, so as not to stress her. In the picture you can see the two young still in their membranes with yoke sacs attached. The young adders would be very similar. They will not eat until the following summer, living off their yoke sacs and fat reserves until the following year. In September/October the adders will return to their hibernaculum, their hibernation site. They use this same site for life, which can be as long as 20 years!
A common lizard giving birth copyright Anna Jemmett
Adders are in decline in the UK so I felt very privileged to have seen one myself, I hope that in the future I will see even more. If you are lucky enough to see an adder please remember to give it a respectful distance, although they don’t want to bite you they can! And if you do get bitten stay calm and make sure you quickly seek medical help. You can admire these beautiful, interesting snakes from a distance. But don’t touch!
I hope I’ve made you appreciate how amazing our native adders are and If you want to learn more about Adders or any of the other reptiles in the UK The Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust have a great website www.arc-trust.org. You can also visit us here at Forsinard, we would be happy to show you around and tell you about our reptiles. On a sunny day you may even be lucky enough to see common lizards basking on the slabs on our Dubh Lochan Trail.
Common Lizard on our Dubh Lochan Trail- copyright Paul Turner
www.rspb.org.uk/forsinard