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pregnant?: |
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tim hamlett Senior Member Joined: 17 Dec 2006 No. of posts: 572  View other posts by tim hamlett |
Posted: 23 Jun 2009 hi everyone four female adders out this lunchtime. they are looking pretty healthy. do any of them look like they're 'up the duff'?
cheers tim |
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Iowarth Admin Group Joined: 12 Apr 2004 No. of posts: 222  View other posts by Iowarth |
Posted: 23 Jun 2009 Hi Tim Well, I can only see three  , all in lovely nick. Any of 'em could be preggers but I would be prepared to put money on the middle one in particular.All the best Chris Chris Davis, Site Administrator Co-ordinator, Sand Lizard Captive Breeding Programme |
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tim hamlett Senior Member Joined: 17 Dec 2006 No. of posts: 572 View other posts by tim hamlett |
Posted: 23 Jun 2009 cheers chris yes, there are only three pics on account of the fourth pic being rubbish. i'll keep an eye on all three of them to see if they keep getting bigger! tim |
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Alan Hyde Senior Member Joined: 17 Apr 2003 No. of posts: 1416 View other posts by Alan Hyde |
Posted: 23 Jun 2009 Beautiful animals Tim, thanks for sharing mate. I may have to hook up with you sometime and see some of your sites Cheers, Al O-> O+> |
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dave fixx Senior Member Joined: 13 Mar 2007 No. of posts: 319  View other posts by dave fixx |
Posted: 23 Jun 2009 Nice pics as usual Tim,look forward to your findings.
Dave Williams davewilliamsphotography.co.uk |
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armata Forum Specialist Joined: 05 Apr 2006 No. of posts: 928 View other posts by armata |
Posted: 23 Jun 2009 Mm, the middle one is a prey item the bulge is too far forward. So a non-breeder. A clue in most populations is that breeding females hang around the hibernation area, i.e. they do not migrate. Also, they do not feed, unless snack items such as a lizard. This is not set in stone though. Also, because of the increase in active days the females that give birth will migrate post partum. This post birth migration is a recent happening as per my study sites at Hartland, Furzebrook, Wareham Forest, and Norden. First observed 1991. 'I get my kicks on Route 62' |
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tim hamlett Senior Member Joined: 17 Dec 2006 No. of posts: 572 View other posts by tim hamlett |
Posted: 23 Jun 2009 cheers al it would be a fair trek for you but it would be amazing to have someone so experienced taking a look at the site with me. i'm only really getting to know it myself and i've had to do it alone learning on the hoof so i'm sure i'm missing loads of stuff. interestingly, there's an area adjacent to the woodland that is being turned into heathland by the owner. i got caught trespassing on it by the warden last year while looking for lizards. he was perfectly pleasant but he made it clear that the area was out of bounds to virtually everyone. interestingly, he explicitly stated that the rspb weren't welcome. i have been thinking about leaving a note somewhere offering to monitor the site for reptiles. it would be particularly interesting to get an expert view on how it is developing. here's the woodland area:
the arrows show the only places i have seen adders, although i have seen grass snakes and lizards elsewhere. it's pretty isolated and i don't think it's a huge population. below is the area being turned to heath:
cheers tim |
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tim hamlett Senior Member Joined: 17 Dec 2006 No. of posts: 572 View other posts by tim hamlett |
Posted: 24 Jun 2009 sorry dave and tony...for some reason i didn't see your posts earlier. @dave - loved your slowie pics too. wish i could find some local ones! @tony - cheers for that. interestingly, like chris, i would have put money on the middle one being preg. the only female that i have seen in the same place all year, although i didn't see her until middle/end of april, is the first one. also i haven't seen a male within a hundred metres of her tim |
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Iowarth Admin Group Joined: 12 Apr 2004 No. of posts: 222 View other posts by Iowarth |
Posted: 24 Jun 2009 There ya go Tim. Compared to Tony's knowledge of adders, most of the rest of us appear as crass amateurs! Makes you glad we didn't put money on it! Chris Chris Davis, Site Administrator Co-ordinator, Sand Lizard Captive Breeding Programme |
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tim hamlett Senior Member Joined: 17 Dec 2006 No. of posts: 572 View other posts by tim hamlett |
Posted: 24 Jun 2009 [QUOTE=Iowarth]There ya go Tim. Compared to Tony's knowledge of adders, most of the rest of us appear as crass amateurs! dude, i don't appear like a crass amateur...i am a crass amateur mind you, i think you're right. i bet there are a lot of people, even on this forum, who would thought the same. tim
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armata Forum Specialist Joined: 05 Apr 2006 No. of posts: 928 View other posts by armata |
Posted: 24 Jun 2009 Tim, don't do yourself down, I find your posts both useful and educational even at my tender age!! Thats whats so good about this forum we can bounce things around and no on will put you down. We have snow here now, so you guys are having better luck than me 
Is anyone putting cover boards out in summer grounds; thats a good way to spot the non-breeding female adders, until post partum time anyway. 'I get my kicks on Route 62' |
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Alan Hyde Senior Member Joined: 17 Apr 2003 No. of posts: 1416 View other posts by Alan Hyde |
Posted: 25 Jun 2009 Hi Tim, Tony's right, we all learn off each other without doubt. Where are you based mate? cheers, Al O-> O+> |
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tim hamlett Senior Member Joined: 17 Dec 2006 No. of posts: 572 View other posts by tim hamlett |
Posted: 25 Jun 2009 cheers fellas @tony - snow in south africa. hmm...might help the british lions. they are gonna ned something!!! @al - i'm in north north staffordshire...a long way from sunny surrey! cheers tim |
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armata Forum Specialist Joined: 05 Apr 2006 No. of posts: 928 View other posts by armata |
Posted: 25 Jun 2009 Yes the Lions are playing in Cape Town tomorrow but I'll watch it on TV (in bed with my overcoat on). 'I get my kicks on Route 62' |
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dave fixx Senior Member Joined: 13 Mar 2007 No. of posts: 319 View other posts by dave fixx |
Posted: 26 Jun 2009 Tim I agree,I would have thought the same,infact last year we posted a pic convinced that the adder was pregnant and well fed,only to find out thats a bit of a contradiction in terms.I m really chuffed we have people like Tony here prepared to help us out and I m sure he must enjoy it to.Dont forget who helped me find that first slow worm. 
Dave Williams davewilliamsphotography.co.uk |
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will Senior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 No. of posts: 330 View other posts by will |
Posted: 11 Jul 2009 Here's one of six gravid females from a London site; so far the summer weather has been kind and they're coming on nicely, along with lots of very gravid lizards, making food for the young adders to come. BTW, have you seen the remarkable picture in this month's BBC Wildlife mag sent in by a reader of a male adder apparently eating a neo adder ? Tony's reply in the mag says it's the first he's heard of this sort of cannibalism in adders.  |
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armata Forum Specialist Joined: 05 Apr 2006 No. of posts: 928 View other posts by armata |
Posted: 11 Jul 2009 Yes I was most surprised. This was in the New Forest and am using the photo in my adder book. Note that there is at least one other neo in the photo. I guess this was oppotunistic feeding in the extreme. Sylvia Sheldon has recorded a female eating stillborn. 'I get my kicks on Route 62' |
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tim hamlett Senior Member Joined: 17 Dec 2006 No. of posts: 572 View other posts by tim hamlett |
Posted: 13 Jul 2009 lovely pic as usual will. spotted this little cutie along with a couple of females in a new part of the woodland today
tim |
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dave fixx Senior Member Joined: 13 Mar 2007 No. of posts: 319 View other posts by dave fixx |
Posted: 13 Jul 2009 soo cute
Dave Williams davewilliamsphotography.co.uk |
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will Senior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 No. of posts: 330 View other posts by will |
Posted: 14 Jul 2009 Cheers Tim; well spotted - those young ones aren't easy to see ! |
- pregnant? |
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