Adder
Identification: A thick-bodied snake. Length 50-80 cm. Mostly around 65 cm. They have a zigzag stripe on the back, a flattened head and a vertical pupil. Very short tail. The back scales are keeled. Back mostly brown to grey, sometimes more greenish, bluish, yellowish or reddish brown. Round points or spots on the flanks. Behind the head, there is a X- or V-shaped dark spot and from the eyes, there is a dark stripe over the side of the head. The tip of the tail is yellow or orange on the underside. Males often have a blackish brown zigzag stripe on a pale grey or grey-beige background, belly mostly black. Females more often with a brown zigzag stripe on a yellowish to reddish brown background, belly mostly brownish. Males have more contrast, so the zigzag stripe is more obvious in them. Also dark to totally black animals occur in which the zigzag stripe is hardly visible. Males are slimmer and smaller than females, have a comparatively longer tail and a thickened base of the tail. Newborn young are 14-18 cm long and look like adult animals.
Range: Mid and northern Europe, also the north of Italy. The Adder has a widespread distribution throughout the UK. Not in Ireland.
Habitat: Favours rather moist places like moors and moist heaths. Usually associated with open heath land, it also occurs in woodland, in particular in open areas within wooded regions where sunny patches occur. The Adder is the UK's only native venomous snake. In the south of Europe, it is more a mountain species, occurring up to altitudes of 3000 metres in the Alps.
Habits: Active from the end of February until the beginning of October, depending on weather conditions. Males appear first. The breeding season is from mid-April to May. After this period, the Adders disperse over their summer habitat. In the summer months, mainly basking females are to be seen, to stimulate the development of the eggs. Adders are ovoviviparous. In England, an Adder female breeds only every two years. From mid-August, the animals start migrating towards their hibernation quarters. Sometimes these are far from their summer habitat. The young are born near these overwintering places, at the end of August or in September. Adders are diurnal, but on warm days they are also active around sunset. This snake is not aggressive, people are usually only bitten during attempts to catch or handle them. The bite is poisonous but rarely fatal. Feeds mainly on small vertebrates like mice and young birds, but also on lizards and frogs. Hibernates in holes between the roots of trees or beneath heaps of wood or stones, often together with others of its own sort or even with different animal species. Hibernation is from October to March, depending on weather conditions.
How to find: These animals can be found from the end of February until the beginning of October. In the morning, Adders warm themselves up in the sun. During the breeding season in April and May, the animals come together at favoured sites and are observed more easily than at other times. In the summer months, mainly basking females are seen. In autumn, the animals are found around their hibernation quarters. The Adder is not a common garden visitor, though occasionally if conditions suit them they will take up residence.