A Male wild Adder (Vipera berus), taken yesterday on the South Downs near Brighton. A near full frame capture(just a little cropped on RHS to remove disturbing vegetation), taken handheld from a distance of 15 inches away.
The male is around 60cm long, and the female is approx 75cm, found throughout England, Scotland and Wales. Can be seen from March to October. During the winter adders hibernate underground. The young are usually born around August.
Adders are normally found on heathland or sand dunes. They can often be seen warming up their bodies (basking) in the sunshine. They feed on mice, voles and lizards.
Sometimes called the 'viper', of the three types of snake found in Britain, the adder is the only one which is venomous. They can be recognised by the dark zig-zag pattern running down the length of their back, and by the dark V-shaped marking on the back of their head.
Many thanks for your generous support of my last upload, with a
special thank you to Julia (NaturesHaven) for the
GEA and to Zoran(Bzox), Trev(Trev_B) and Stace (Stace) for their
User Awards - all very much appreciated and valued

Tags: Wild
Snake
Male
Reptile
Kill
South downs
Adder
Poisonous
Vipera berus
Venomous
Wildlife and nature
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