What do adders eat

Look out for this…. The UK's 6 native species of reptile are often overlooked when thinking about British wildlife. Find out the best places to see…. As a charity we rely on memberships.

They help us look after over 2, nature reserves and protect the animals that call them home. Please consider becoming a member of your local Wildlife Trust today. Share facebook twitter email whatsapp. Adder Scientific name: Vipera berus.

The adder is, after all, our only venomous snake — and venomous animals are normally associated with the tropics. Learn more about this beautiful and misunderstood species in our expert guide by herpetologist Steve Allain :.

Three subspecies are recognised across the range of the species, with the nominate subspecies being the one that everyone is familiar with.

It may be a surprise to many to learn that adders are the smallest snake species found in the UK. They grow to an average length of 60 cm in length which is slightly smaller than smooth snakes and half the size of barred grass snakes , the other two snake species found in the UK. Larger individuals are known but these are few and far between. Adders are sexually dimorphic meaning that males and females appear differently.

Males are light grey or silver in colour with a black zig-zag running down their back. In contrast, females are light brown or copper colour with a dark brown zig-zag running down their back.

There is of course the chance that you may encounter a black adder, which are usually female. Adders are perhaps one of the most exotic looking native species found in the UK.

Adders are found throughout much of England, Scotland and Wales but absent from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland , and throughout most of Europe. They are the most northerly found snake with a distribution into the Arctic Circle. It may be argued that across the wider landscape that they have the largest distribution of any snake being found from the north-west corner of France all the way through to the Far East including north-east China.

Adders can be found in a large number of habitats such as heathland, open woodland, chalky downs, rocky hillsides, moors, meadows, coastal dunes, and stone quarries.

The diet of the adder can be varied depending on what habitat they are found in. In most, the diet consists mainly of small mammals such as voles and mice, however larger animals may even take rats.

Tail shape and length can be a key gender identification feature, with the male's tail appearing longer, with a short parallel portion behind the cloaca which houses the hemipenes. The female tail tapers immediately after the cloaca. A strong diagnostic feature is the colour of the non-white scales along the upper labial scales upper lip. These colour flecks are amlost always brown for females and black for males. Unfortunately, this method is unreliable for melanistic black specimens.

Any snake can be mistaken for an adder, most commonly grass snakes are wrongly identified as adders, although a glance at the identification pages will show a host of differences between the two species. If see a snake around a garden pond, it is almost certainly a harmless grass snake. Our other native snake, the smooth snake is far more adder-like than the grass snake; however both these snakes have a round pupil and no zig-zag along their back.

The Smooth snake is extremely rare, and unless you are on dry heathland in the Southern counties you will not see one you probably won't see one even if you are in the right spot! Even the slow worm which is a legless lizard can occasionally be mistaken for an adder.

Slow worms have a metallic colouration, blunt tongues and eyelids snakes have no eyelids and cannot close their eyes. Adders are rarely seen in gardens, unless your garden backs onto heathland, woodland or large scrub areas.

If you have a garden pond stocked with fish, or frogs are abundant, and you have a snake, it's probably a grass snake! The Aesculapian snake is an alien species with an extremely restricted range in the UK, there are only two colonies, one in north Wales and the other in central London. More commonly encountered species are escaped exotic pets such as corn snakes and king snakes. The Adder is the most northerly distributed reptile, and is well adapted to cool conditions.

They can even be found within the edge of the arctic circle. The UK subspecies; Vipera berus berus can be found across Europe as far east as the Ural mountains in Russia, and as far south as the Mediterranean. Its northerly extent includes Scandinavia and Russia as far north as the arctic circle. Strongholds for the adder comprise the southern counties, Wales, Cunbria and the North East. Surrey has a very strong population of adders, although this may be declining.

Surrey is certainly one of the stronghold counties within England, with more records reported than any other county except Dorset. Adders require a combination of thick vegetation for cover from predators, open sunlight spots in which to bask, a food source comprising other reptiles, frogs or small mammals and readily draining soil for flood-proof hibernacula.

The need for well drained soils means that adders are frequently found on sandy heathland and chalk downland. They tend to avoid heavy clay soils. Hedgerows can provide an abundance of prey. Although associated with chalk grassland and heathland, the adder is essentially a woodland margin species, and can be readily found at woodland edges or along forest rides.

Hibernation areas are usually on drier and higher ground, but it is usual for particularly male animals to migrate over 1km to wetter hunting areas during the summer.

The adder is a diurnal predator, however on particularly warm summer nights it is known that adders also hunt during the hours of darkness. The mating period varies, depending upon annual weather conditions, but usually the last two weeks of April or the first week of May. After the mating period, male Adders and juveniles migrate to wetter communal hunting areas shared by adders from various hibernacula.

This can make summer months difficult for survey, although most females stay close to hibernacula sites, those in reproduction basking openly to aid development of their unborn young. All animals return to the proximity of the hibernacula site towards the end of September. Juveniles may follow scent trails back to a different hibernacula area to their orign, thus aiding genetic diversity.

Like all native snakes, the adder will eat any animal that it can overpower and swallow, however; the adder tends to specialise in small mammals, particularly voles. Research has shown that adders take a significant period of time to digest their prey.

It is not infrequent for an adder to survive from eating only one small mammal per month. There are reports that some adder populations primarily predate amphibians, such as the common frog. Presumably this is due to a lack of small mammals, but demonstrates this snake's dietary flexibility. Nesting birds are also taken when the opportunity is presented. Though they are venomous, they are not aggressive, and when threatened only use their venom as a last resort.

Humans are most likely to be bitten if they step on or try to pick up an adder. Adders "have relatively moderate venom, not highly lethal," said Savitzky. They are, however, "unpleasant and could cause potentially serious medical issues. Though they are usually not lethal, that doesn't mean that they don't deserve treatment. Sometimes called African adders, puff adders Bitis arietans are members of the viper family. That is certainly true for the puff adder, which is more venomous and dangerous than its European relatives.

Puff adders average about 3 feet 1 meter in length and have stout bodies. They have light brown, gray, and black markings with a distinctive chevron pattern, according to the Sabi Sabi Game Reserve in South Africa. Their coloring makes for effective camouflage. Like most vipers, their heads have a triangular shape and are distinct from their necks. Males are larger than females. Like other vipers, puff adders have hinged fangs through which venom is injected into prey. Puff adders are widespread throughout Africa, Savitzky said.

They live in most of sub-Saharan Africa except the rainforests in west and central Africa. Puff adders are found across the Red Sea in the southwest corner of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and in in the southwest corner of Oman.

Puff adders primarily live in rocky savannahs, though they are found almost everywhere in Africa except deserts and rainforests. A primary reason they bite so many people is that they are highly adaptable snakes and often live in developed places, according to the Sabi Sabi Game Reserve.

Puff adders are out both during the day and at night, though they are more active at night, according to Perry's Bridge Reptile Park in South Africa. Because of their stocky bodies, they are relatively slow-moving snakes. They rely on their camouflage for protection rather than their ability to move quickly.

Puff adders move in a straight line, like a caterpillar, rather than in the side-to-side slithering motion of most snakes.

Puff adders are known for their aggressive temperament, though Savitzky says that might be overstated. Part of that reputation may come from the relative frequency of humans stepping on puff adders. Because they are slow and heavily camouflaged, it is possible for people to unintentionally get close to the snakes and step on them.

When threatened, puff adders inflate their upper bodies and hiss. This habit as given rise to their common name. Despite their slow traveling speed, puff adders are known for their quick strike. According to Perry's Bridge Reptile Park, they can strike within 0. Puff adders are primiarily terrestrial, though they sometimes climb trees and are fond of swimming. Puff adders eat mostly small mammals, said Savitzky. They also eat birds and lizards.