Seen an adder lately?

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the_mikey

Legendary Member
They are hard to spot, generally you won't see one until they move, and they're usually moving away/out of sight, so you'll catch sight of the rear end of an adder before it moves out of view. It's much easier to find lizards.
 
OP
OP
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661-Pete

Guest
Just bumping this thread to report my first snake sighting of the year at lunchtime today - but not an adder: a young grass snake. Was wriggling across the road ahead of me, and didn't like my approach; it soon got out of the way when it sensed me coming!

Keep them eyes peeled folks....
 

Biscuit

Legendary Member
I did see an adder in Burnham on Crouch in the 90s. Sliding around the works car park in the sunshine. Other than that on a trail run last year on the Suffolk coast, I saw something at the last minute before I put my foot on it. All I could do was to shout 'Snake, Snake!' in a fast show style and point, only to be informed by the runner behind, that it was a slow worm. Felt such a tit! :-)
 
Couple of years ago whilst walking in Bradgate Park north of Leicester which is supposed to be a haven for them. I've only seen two in all the time I've been going there, though!
 

asterix

Comrade Member
Location
Limoges or York
Saw a huge one on the Isle of Jura. It was much longer than

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Location
Midlands
Saw one a couple of weeks ago when the weather got warmer while I was playing golf - almost ran over a grass snake cycling to the gym last night

both instances relatively close to the town centre
 

HelenD123

Legendary Member
Location
York
Saw a small adder on the North York Moors last weekend and a couple of larger ones a few years ago, strangely all in April brought out by unseasonably warm weather.
 

Gixxerman

Guru
Location
Market Rasen
There are some in the Woods near me (Linwood Warren).
Although not as many as there were when I was a youth.
As a youth, I can remember several cases of golfers being bitten retrieving their golf balls from Linwood Warren (there is course opposite).
But no incidents reported in the last 20 years.
So either the golfers are a better standard now, or there are less adders about to bite them.
 

Glow worm

Legendary Member
Location
Near Newmarket
Roydon Common near King's Lynn is a good place to see adders, Norfolk Wildlife Trust monitor numbers and leave out square sheets of corrugated iron. The snakes like to hide under these as they are nice and warm, heating up in the sun. Just lift them up and the chances are you'll see adders. Also, for lizards and grass snakes, Lakenheath Fen, Suffolk is good. Grass snakes often seen swimming through the middle of Brandon (Suffolk/ Norfolk border) in summer along the Little Ouse River. I had a grass snake under some corrugated iron on the allotment here for a few weeks last summer as well. He'd have a nibble of my finger when I used to pick him up. And frankly who can blame him! He was under there with a spectacularly angry bee for a while, but that's another story.
 

Fnaar

Smutmaster General
Location
Thumberland
I found a dead one...
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Cyclopathic

Veteran
Location
Leicester.
I'm sorry to say that the last and only time I saw an Adder was about 20 years ago. It was in Northhamptonshire near the motorway junction and I was a labourer and dogsbody on a bypass construction past Blisworth I think it was.
It was a hot sunny day and I saw the snake in a narrow gully. Despite its colouring it was actually quire camoflaged against the sandy coloured soil. I saw another one that week but it was dead having been run over by one of our site vehicles. It was the dead one that made me realise that I was actually being a direct part in the proscesses that were destroying their habitat. Probably not worth it for the £2.90 an hour I was on at the time.
 
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