RAUK - Archived Forum - Posts by mark bannister:

Thanks everyone for your comments.

It has enabled me to progress with my adder ID skills enormously. I very much appreciate it.

I found the New Naturalist 'Reptiles&Amphibians' ("won" on e-bay at a vastly inflated price) and Shire Series 'Adder' for some background gen. I also found I could order the backcopy of British Wildlife Vol 15 No.5 with the Tony Phelps article 'Beyond hypothesis û a long-term study of British snakes'....but that was about all.

I guess Tony Phelps has published alot more on UK reptile ecology, does anyone know a good way to access it and where it is?....

/Mark

Hello,

I'm relatively new to studying reptiles, but am keen to learn more. I have recently found a few local hibernacula of adder and grass snake. One is very close to a footpath with regular dog walkers. One is very quiet. Could anyone answer the following:

- A good source of information for adder/grass snake behaviour/ecology...I can only seem to find the shire series for adder when I search online!.

- I found a dead female adder, 21.5cm in length on 7th March (1 year old?). It had no visible damage and just seemed to be laid out basking. In fact it took me a good 10mins to finally work out it was dead!. Is this a sign that the snake did not have enough energy supplies to make it over winter? Is this relatively common?

I do like to photograph the adders and grass snakes, but this often causes them to retreat into cover....its always tempting to get just that bit closer. In light of the dead young adder I found, I am wondering about the level of disturbance this causes to them, especially early in the year and especially if they are already distrubed by dog walkers. Could this be detrimental to them? What general guidelines would anyone suggest when studying / photographing snakes with regards to disturbance? I've always worked on the basis that a good naturalist keeps disturbance to a minimum.

-What minimum habitat area does an adder need? I ask this because one of the hibernation sites is adjacent to an area of (good quality) heathland which has recently been planted up with scots pine. The trees are getting to a size where the ground will be shaded out soon.

Sorry for the large number of questions, but thanks in advance for comments on any of them.

/Mark

I observed about 8 different adders on my last trip (9th March, Lincolnshire), but none of them seemed particularly pale, so I assumed they were all females. However, after reading the post about rostral scale frame marking and seeing pictures of male adders arthat don't look so pale, I'm now not at all sure what I saw!

I have read that a female has a shorter tail than a male, but at this stage in my experience, I'm not sure what contitutes 'short'. Does anyone have a good comparison picture of the tail length of a female and a male?

Here are some pictures from my trip and my guess at the sex of each snake. As you can see I'm still a bit puzzled. Any comments welcome. The pictures are not particularly good, but maybe good enough to determine the sex?

adder1 - male due to tan colour dark black diamonds and rostral scale frame? Not sure what can be said about the tail.

adders2&3 - male due to pale tan colour, dark black diamonds and rostral scale frame? possible female underneath...but isn't it too early for this kind of behaviour?

adder4 -male due to tan colour dark black diamonds and rostral scale frame?

adder5 - ? similar coloration as adder4, but less distinct rostral scale frame

adder6 - ? similar coloration as adder4, but less distinct rostral scale frame and does this contitute a short tail or long tail?

Hi Tim,

Do you have an update on your adder work in Laughton forest?

I know the site quite well and usually have several trips there looking for adders and grass snakes in early spring.

I am quite concerned about their future due to the recent planting up of the best bit of heathland in the whole area, adjacent to several of their hibernacula.

Regards,

/Mark