Male Adder!

Not a great pic I know, but this male adder was in a gorse bush (they usually are) and it was tricky to get a decent angle.
Unless I can get down to their level, I don't get too close because this just disturbs them and I would rather walk away with a crappy shot than disturb this reptile just for the sake of a photograph!

Will hopefully be getting out tomorrow weather permitting!



Rob

Male Adder!

Here is a nice male adder, which has recently sloughed (shed his skin). He was in a gorse bush and it was quite tough to get close, but I managed it without disturbing him. This is where a long lens comes in handy, even if it is very hard hand holding with gorse spines sticking in every part of your body!
The trick is to creep up on them, very slowly and very quietly! Ignore the spiders running over your face, don't jump if you are bitten by something, or spiked by a spine or bramble and don't make eye contact as they will always win!

Piece of cake - Not!




Rob

First Adder - 2011

Well, this is my fist adder of 2011, taken a couple of weeks ago now. I have been wanting to get out and capture some better images, but with some other projects I have running at the moment and with work commitments, I just haven't had the time!

This is a male, not fully grown yet and he was heated up when I found him, so it was tough to get close.
Hopefully I can get out tomorrow and find a nice female.




Rob

Basking Melanistic Adder

Here we have a melanistic adder, probably a male. Melanism is a condition, which means the animal has an increased amount of black pigment throughout their body. This can be slight, or in some cases it can be so severe that the whole body is completely black.
You will notice that he is resting his chin on his mid-body section and that this part of his body looks flat.
The reason for this is the fact that a snake can flatten their body to create a larger surface area. The bigger the surface area means more sun penetration and heat can be absorbed.
Its tough work getting close to a shy and elusive creature like the adder, but stealth, understanding and patience is the key to getting close without disturbing them.
This photograph was taken with a 100mm macro lens and I was probably no more than 12 inches away, but even though he could see me, he was fine as I was making no sudden movements and was at his level.

Why do I feel the need to get so close? That's simple, I love these creatures and when I see certain TV presenters tailing these beautiful reptiles, swinging them around (whilst trying not to be bitten), it makes me mad.
I could pick up every snake in my photographs if I wanted to, but for what purpose? I have no idea why these presenters feel the need to man handle the snakes they find, maybe the producers think it makes better TV?
I have hours of video, where our snakes are in their natural habitat (acting normal). Some of this footage can be slightly boring, I admit it as a basking snake is not very entertaining, but if these presenters were swung around by their legs for about 10 minuets, I'm pretty sure they would be very upset and want to punch the person doing it.
Snakes don't have hands to defend themselves, they have fangs and 9 times out of 10, all snake bites are preventable.




Rob

Persecution!

The snake has always been persecuted and probably always will be. The problem comes from a lack of education, scaremongering and from the way they have been portrayed on TV and in the press.
It goes right back to the beginning of time and the serpent is seen as evil in many countries, but also worshiped in others.

Why do people have a fear of these creatures? If a young child with no understanding of the dangers of venomous creatures saw a snake, would they run away, or try and pick it up?

For many years, people have been telling their children that snakes are dangerous. This is correct as some can kill a human being in minuets, but surely we should be educating our children to respect the snake, not fear it.

The UK has one venomous snake, the adder and although this snake is venomous, its venom will only prove fatal if the victim suffers a severe allergic reaction, which is not treated.
The same allergic reaction can be caused from a bee sting, so in reality the adder is about as harmless as a bee.

The snake below is a male adder. I found him near one of my adder hot-spots and he was probably basking on the path when someone came along and decided he had to die!
Probably beaten to death with a stick, he would have suffered a great deal of pain and died a slow death.
The person who killed this snake, did so out of ignorance, as when they saw him the kill instinct kicked in and the snake didn't stand a chance.
They probably thought they had done a good deed, by removing a pest from our forest, but in fact they removed a protected species, which is in decline.

Education is the key to conservation.




Rob

Adders Mating!

As mentioned previously, I spend a lot of up close and personal time with our snakes, including the adder. Saying this, there are times when they need their space and during the mating season, I stay well back and respect the fact that they are very sensitive and secretive creatures.
While they are mating I photograph them from a distance that doesn't disturb them. The only draw back to this is that there is usually grass and reed in between them and my camera, so this inevitably ends up in the shot!

Here we have two mating adders. You can easily tell the female from the male due to her size and brown colour. She is also the same snake, which is featured in the grass snake pic below.

Female adders, like the female grass snakes grow much larger than the males and I have found some truly magnificent specimens while surveying the Forest of Dean for them.
The largest female adder I have found and photographed was approx 80cm and was very bulky, she was tucked under a small tree with gorse all around to shelter and protect her. Very beautiful snake and I will post her portrait soon.



Rob

Identification Part 2

Here we have two mating grass snakes and a female adder, all in the same shot. You can now see the difference between the two with the female adder standing out from the grass snakes with her zig-zag pattern and ginger brown colour.
I never disturb them and I photographed these snakes from quite a distance, hence the distracting reeds in front of them, but I would rather have a messy shot, than know I had disturbed them. Especially when they are mating!





Rob

3 is a Crowd!

This is a very old photograph of two male adders that I photographed at one of my adder hot spots. Digital cameras were not on the market back then, so I was using a Canon EOS 50e and as I could not afford a macro lens, I compromised!
Using a 400mm lens with 3 extension tubes gave me the means of being able to focus at close range.
The only draw back was that I had to manually focus and it severely reduced my shutter speed. On top of this I was lying on my belly in brambles, which meant a tripod was not suitable for these conditions. Hand holding a 400mm lens, manually focusing with a slow shutter speed = hard work, especially when inches away from two adders! But it paid off and this was the result.

As soon as our snakes emerge from hibernation, they usually head to an area where there is a good food source and good basking spots. If you are lucky enough to find one of these areas, you can see the same snakes and new arrivals there year after year, as long as they are not disturbed.
I can usually identify old snakes and it is good to see them every year.




Rob