Join our zoo community
Varanidae

Common european adder - Vipera berus

A male basking in the spring sun, as you can see on the tail it has just begun shedding into it's mating colors, a contrasting black and grey.

Common european adder - Vipera berus
Varanidae, 25 Nov 2013
German Zoo World, robreintjes and PAT like this.
    • Varanidae
      A male basking in the spring sun, as you can see on the tail it has just begun shedding into it\'s mating colors, a contrasting black and grey.
    • Hix
      Nice shot!
    • Elephas Maximus
      A beautiful yet abused species.
      Are the snakes being killed at sight in Norway by common people?
    • Varanidae
      Unfortunately yes, they are often killed by people who judge them "insanely dangerous". This is very sad, I often meet people walking in the woods when I'm out looking for adders, and when they see what I am photographing, they stop dead in their tracks and often turn around, many say they will not take walks in the woods again until winter because of the adders.

      Because of this strange fear and the terrible killing of adders, I have written a informative poster which has been distributed around in Norway and hung up in areas where adders and people often cross paths, it contains some facts about adders, and why they are not to be feared. Hopefully this will help a bit.
    • dean
      A very nice shot Varanidae
      I have never seen a wild adder we have them locally but have never seen one, we get a lot of Grass snakes in our garden though. may be I need to set a target to see adders next year my own life first.
      When people complain about them I always think more children are killed each year in the UK by their own parents than people have been by adders in the last hundred plus years.
    • Elephas Maximus
      In Russia, any snake can be killed, even harmless grass snake with distinctive spots - just for being a snake... dice snakes are being called 'water adders' or 'checker snakes', whose venom kills in five minutes.
      The snake slaughter often happens at the demand of human female, who's scared to have a creepy thing around and urges her stud to show his courage.
      No animal cruelty laws protect reptiles and amphibians here, only warm-blooded animals that may scream.
    There are no comments to display.
  • Category:
    Norway - Wildlife
    Uploaded By:
    Varanidae
    Date:
    25 Nov 2013
    View Count:
    2,526
    Comment Count:
    6

    EXIF Data

    File Size:
    844.1 KB
    Mime Type:
    image/jpeg
    Width:
    1024px
    Height:
    683px
    Aperture:
    f/10.0
    Make:
    Canon
    Model:
    Canon EOS 550D
    Date / Time:
    2013:03:28 12:19:06
    Exposure Time:
    1/200 sec
    ISO Speed Rating:
    ISO 200
    Focal Length:
    18 mm
     

    Note: EXIF data is stored on valid file types when a photo is uploaded. The photo may have been manipulated since upload (rotated, flipped, cropped etc).