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RAUK - Archived Forum - Reptiles in gardens news release

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Reptiles in gardens news release:

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Jim Foster
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Joined: 24 Jul 2003
No. of posts: 19


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Posted: 14 Aug 2003

We put the following news release out this week to try to generate some positive media coverage of snakes and lizards, and particularly to encourage sympathetic garden management, discourage persecution, and help with identification. So far there has been some take up, mainly in local newspapers. To go to our press page, the URL is:

http://www.english-nature.org.uk/news/story.asp?ID=506

Jim Foster.

EN/03/34 13 August 2003
Sunbathing snakes like it hot - Gardeners urged to help reptiles with identity crisis
 
Sightings of BritainÆs sunbathing snakes have soared this summer as temperatures hit record highs creating ideal conditions for the dwindling reptiles.

Some of this countryÆs shyest creatures are more active in sunny weather and the chances of seeing one dramatically increases after heavy rainfall follows a prolonged dry spell.

But around 95% of calls to the English Nature enquiry service turn out to be a case of mistaken identity, with most callers believing they have spotted an adder when it is much more likely to be a grass snake or slow-worm. A new leaflet published by English Nature has clear photographs to help people tell them apart and gives advice on what to do if you find one.

English NatureÆs reptile specialist, Jim Foster, said: "We appreciate that some people are terrified when they first see a snake in the garden, but there is rarely anything to be truly worried about. Snakes and lizards get a bad press but the message this summer is - stay calm if you spot a snake!"

If you see a snake
  • Take a good look, but donÆt touch, catch or trap it
  • Call us for the new English Nature leaflet to help identify it
  • Remember snakes are timid and usually flee from people and pets
  • Grass snakes and slow-worms, which are harmless, often visit gardens
  • Adders, which are venomous but normally pose little threat, rarely visit gardens
  • It is illegal to kill or injure any British snake or lizard

English Nature is today asking gardeners to support their local snakes by making their backyards more reptile friendly. Compost heaps, log piles, rockeries, garden ponds and long grass patches provide cover and food for visiting grass snakes and slow-worms. This is even more important as reptile numbers are dropping in much of the countryside due to habitat loss and deterioration. Reptiles are most commonly attracted to gardens near to heathland, rough grassland, open woodland, allotments and railway embankments.

Jim Foster added, "The hot weather doesnÆt mean there will be more snakes, but sightings are more common because people are outdoors while snakes are moving around. Even if you are lucky enough to spot an adder, thereÆs absolutely no need to harm it as helpful advice is only a phone call away."

Ends
 
Notes for editors
  1. August is an enjoyable time of the year to go reptile spotting. Why not visit one of these National Nature Reserves in Cumbria, Devon, Dorset, Surrey, Kent or Suffolk û free of charge. Check out http://www.english-nature.org.uk for details.
    • Finglandrigg Woods NNR, Cumbria
    • Slapton Ley NNR, Devon
    • Studland and Godlingston Heath NNR, Dorset
    • Chobham Common NNR, Surrey/Berkshire
    • Stodmarsh NNR, Kent
    • Thursley NNR, Surrey
    • Walberswick NNR, Suffolk
  2. The "Reptiles in your garden" leaflet gives householders practical advice on identification, managing gardens to help reptiles, and what to do about snake concerns. It is available free from the English Nature enquiry service 01733 455100 / 01 / 02 and can be downloaded from: http://www.english-nature.org.uk/pubs/publication/PDF/Reptilesingarden.pdf
  3. England is home to three species of snake (grass snake, adder and smooth snake) and three species of lizard (common lizard, slow-worm and sand lizard). The grass snake, a water-loving species with a distinctive yellow collar marking, and the slow-worm, which is a slug-eating legless lizard, are most commonly encountered in gardens. Adders rarely occur in gardens because they have a restricted distribution, preferring particular habitat types such as heathland, moorland, bogs and chalk grassland. They are readily identified by the dark zig zag marking running down the back from head to tail. Bites from adders are rare, most occurring when people deliberately pick them up or try to harm them. Most reactions to adder bite are mild, but any bite should be regarded as potentially serious and immediate medical advice should be sought. When disturbed, reptiles will try to avoid an encounter with people by quickly seeking cover.
  4. All British snakes and lizards are protected by law against killing and injuring. Recent strengthening of legislation means that there is a fine of up to ú5000 and/or up to 6 months in prison for an offence. The smooth snake and sand lizard are very rare, restricted to fragments of particular heathland and sand dune habitat where they receive additional legal protection.
  5. English Nature is the Government agency that champions the conservation of wildlife and geology throughout England. Froglife and The Herpetological Conservation Trust worked with English Nature to produce the new reptile leaflet. Froglife works with a range of organisations to conserve widespread native reptiles and amphibians, and can be contacted on 01986 873733. The Herpetological Conservation Trust focuses on the conservation of the rarer reptile and amphibian species, and implementation of the UK Species Action Plans; they can be contacted on 01202 391319.
  6. Photographs of adders, grass snakes, slow-worms and common lizard are available from www.english-nature.org.uk/photogallery or by email from English NatureÆs press office.
 
Contacts
For more information English Nature's National Press Office on 01733 455190 out-of-hours 07970 098005 email press@english-nature.org.uk or visit our website at www.english-nature.org.uk

 


Jim Foster. Reptile & amphibian specialist, Natural England.
Jim Foster
Member
Joined: 24 Jul 2003
No. of posts: 19


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Posted: 14 Aug 2003

As a follow-up to the last message, you may wish to see the BBC's sympathetic, well-linked coverage of the story at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3144451.stm

Jim


Jim Foster. Reptile & amphibian specialist, Natural England.
Wolfgang Wuster
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Apr 2003
No. of posts: 326


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Posted: 14 Aug 2003
Nice work on the leaflet.

I am curious about the BBC's statement that reptiles delight int he heatwave. I recall reading a paper by Saint Girons documenting very high mortality in vipers after the heatwave of 1976 -apparently the prolonged extensive heat seemed to advance the body clocksof the snakes, which showed typical pre-hibernationbehaviour much earlier than normal. Mortality was very high, and exceptionally so among post-partum females.

One has to hope that these observations (based mostly on a captive, open air colony) are not an omen of things to come as a result of this years' summer.

Cheers,
Wolfgang
Wolfgang Wüster
School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor
http://sbsweb.bangor.ac.uk/~bss166/
Jim Foster
Member
Joined: 24 Jul 2003
No. of posts: 19


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Posted: 15 Aug 2003

Yes, not sure that "delighting" is quite the term I'd use! It's actually quite difficult to generalise about how reptiles will have fared in the recent hot spell. There's some evidence that reptiles become less active when it gets very hot (certainly with slow-worms I've noticed that a hot, dry spell seems to drive down sightings during monitoring visits). But as a few others have said elsewhere on this site, reptiles have been found out and about in the last couple of weeks - even under extremely hot tins! I also think the species will react quite differently according to their thermal ecology. Certainly for snakes the typical basking behaviour normally more evident in, say, May would be less common (or occur much earlier and later in the day) when ambient temps are so high. One might propose too that hatching/birth will be earlier this year, given the excellent opportunities for incubation. I do hope the mortality Wolfgang mentions does not arise, especially as hotter summers may be on the cards if you believe some predictions; will try to look out for signs of this at some of the sites being monitored. Wolfgang - are there any particular signs to watch out for?

Our point in the press release was that people are outdoors more, and reptiles are fairly active (often zipping through gardens), so we get a peak of calls from concerned members of the public in July-August in most years. Obviously any reptile surveyor will tell you this a bad time to do proper surveys, but that's not what we were saying. I thought it best not to get into the science in this instance, and cut to the positive messages about habitat management, identification, etc.


Jim Foster. Reptile & amphibian specialist, Natural England.
Alan Hyde
Senior Member
Joined: 17 Apr 2003
No. of posts: 1416


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Posted: 15 Aug 2003
Hi Jim , Wolfgang.

I've still been out and about during this heat , and although i've not seen any snakes slow worm numbers still seem pretty much the same to me.

Yesterday for example, I saw 7 adult and 2 sub adult under one sheet of heavy duty plastic.
AlanAlan Hyde37848.4434375
O-> O+>
Wolfgang Wuster
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Joined: 23 Apr 2003
No. of posts: 326


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Posted: 15 Aug 2003
Jim,

Here is the reference to the paper:

Saint Girons, H. (1981) Cycle annuel er survie de quelques viperes d'Europe. Influence des temperatures exceptionnellement elevees de l'annee 1976 (Yearly cycle and survival in some European vipers. Influence of the exceptionally high temperatures of the year 1976). Vie et Milieu 31 (1): 59-64.

His observations were based on specimens kept in outdoor enclosures, and fed ad lib.

Basically, the signs were: early birth (early August rather than late August), early cessation of feeding in males (mid July rather than early September) and non-reprod females, early second shed for reproductive females, and greatly increased tendency for abnormal mid-winter excursions, accompanied by death during hibernation. Of his captive viper specimens, 100% of females that reproduced in 1976 died during the subsequent winter. He also observed reduced population sizes in neighbouring wild populations, although since the comparison was between 1974 and 1977, it is unclear whether the main loss occurred in 1976.

The high mortality was despite the fact that his captive vipers fed more frequently and absorbed more food that year than normally. The author's interpretation was that the endogenous cycles of the snakes were accelerated by the high temps, early birth and high food intake, and that the asynchrony between endogenous cycles and climatic conditions led to the increased mortality. However, the survivors behaved normally the following year.

I'm sure Tony will be in a good position to tell us whether this summer is having similar effects on his populations. If we do get high mortality after this summer, then that would indeed be worrying, considering current climatic trends and forecasts.

Cheers,

Wolfgang
Wolfgang Wüster
School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor
http://sbsweb.bangor.ac.uk/~bss166/
Alan Hyde
Senior Member
Joined: 17 Apr 2003
No. of posts: 1416


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Posted: 15 Aug 2003
Yes but, wasn't there a rise in snake numbers and large specimins in the early eighties?

Seemed that way in Surrey and Middlesex

Alan
O-> O+>
GemmaJF
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Joined: 25 Jan 2003
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Posted: 15 Aug 2003

Only a minor observation and I'm sure Tony will add more, but on Jims point about changing behaviour with the weather; I was watching a single female for a few days this year.

This is at my dry bracken site where it is possible to hear snake activity and very effectively know if the animals on the move or not.

Cool days were taken up mostly basking as might be expected. Warmer overcast she would bask then disappear for a forage and be back for another bask at the same spot in a fairly predictable cycle.

On the only really hot day I was watching her, she wasn't out basking at 8.00am and I began to think she wouldn't be active. At 1330 she returned by her usual route from foraging, but instead of basking retired to her bracken pile and remained hidden for the rest of the day.

This suggests to me that for this individual hot days result in a single early and extended forage followed by rest, whereas on cooler days she was more easily observed following a basking routine.

This in my mind fits well with the fact that the general public have more snake encounters in hot weather when they are more likely to be in areas where snakes are found, yet herpetologists encounter them less often as we usually rely on their basking habits for observations.

I wonder if this fits with others more extensive observations?

administrator37848.4709143518
Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant
Tony Phelps
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Joined: 09 Mar 2003
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Posted: 16 Aug 2003
Well now;
The hot weather has affected patterns of behaviour with regard to berus and austriaca.
But firstly let me say let us not get too surprised by the number of adder callouts, bites, and other problems. Studland for example has been like a human version of an ant colony these past few weeks, many people camping overnight(illegally). I have also heard that Martin Noble has 'rescued' a few adders from campsites in the NF. So, more people more problems.

I have had a few interesting observations during the last few days. I have been out on the 14th 15th and today. On one sites I found all but one of my gravid female berus, (8) one was postpartum and found two neonates nearby, one actually shedding, so birth was very recent. On same site found three out of six breeding female austriaca all still very gravid plus six males and two imm males. Also hatchling agilis (3).
Then on to Corfe castle site, which was very intersting. Here the breeding females show pronounced gregarious behaviour, and often see up to five together. However found two some 50m away from usual spot and this was actually on hibernation bank, this was on the 14th and both females were still gravid and had clay adhering to the body indication that they had been sitting out the hot weather. Just as suprising was adult male same place with clay on body, he should have been 200m away. So there seems to be sense of 'home is safe', if I can put it that way. I weighed him up (70g) and this is 15% above his emergence weight this year, he was in good shape.
Very little under tins (150 over four sites) just the odd fragilis. Just two female sand lizards, no viv lizards and most surprising over three days no natrix.
I would just add that during 1976 for same sites never had any real sightings intil early sept and all was well during 77 with no noticeable reduction in numbers of any particular species. Some of you may also recall that the winter of 76/77 was very severe and several villages in Purbeck, including mine, wer snowed in for a week.

Tony
GemmaJF
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Posted: 17 Aug 2003

Tony,

I'm interested that you have observed adders with clay adhering as I was beginning to think that snakes sitting out hot weather was a bit of a myth, from road kills and chance meetings with them in blistering hot weather.

Will adders congregate towards the end of the season at the hibernacula? I'm still not 100% positive where it is at Hindhead and would like to locate it.


Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant
Tony Phelps
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Joined: 09 Mar 2003
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Posted: 17 Aug 2003
Hi Gemma
You don't get aggregations of berus in autumn as you do in spring, return to the hibernating areas is more erratic and many snakes are still in the summer areas in early Oct! But then again it only takes a short while to reach the winter area on most sites.
I don't know if my observations about adders sitting out the hot weather is absolutely conclusive, but I feel it is likely and probably varies from site to site area to area. During the hot weather I did find one male adder and immature under hot tin, and also two smooth snakes.

Tony
GemmaJF
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Posted: 17 Aug 2003

Thanks Tony I will have to wait for the spring then! I'm confident that it's not near the winter task, as this is in the damp valley floor, gravid females this year suggest somewhere on the bracken slope.

Been a bit side-tracked from Hindhead for last few weeks looking for a historical Kent population that still remains elusive. I've noticed some striking similarities between the sites from aerial photographs and looking at the topography, has anyone published material on a "typical" woodland/meadow adder site?

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Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant
calumma
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Joined: 27 Jun 2003
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Posted: 17 Aug 2003
Gemma,

If you are looking for a historical Kent population ask the county recorder!

You may be interested to know that KRAG will be launching a new project 'Adders in Decline' at this years SE Regional HGBI Conference. I have spent the last several weeks chasing up many of the old records and I now have a reasonable idea of where most of the Kent sub-populations are located.

I am just about to post details about the conference...

Lee Brady
Kent Herpetofauna Recorder | Independent Ecological Consultant

Email
GemmaJF
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Posted: 17 Aug 2003

Hi Lee,

I'll drop you an e-mail about this site


Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant

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