Adder Smackdown!

The weather forecast this past weekend was looking good, so a closer inspection of one of our favorite adder spots was definitely in order.

Unfortunately, upon arrival it was slightly cooler and significantly more overcast than expected. After walking several kilometers withouth spotting anything there appeared to be a fat worm laying on a moist forest sand track. Oh, wait a minute…that’s not a worm…it’s a small adder! YES!

Judging by the small size and the lack of body mass, this little adder was probably born quite late last year and went straight into hibernation.

She was just laying there minding her own business and didn’t object to a few photos and videos.

After leaving the adder the weather quite suddenly changed: from a thick layer of clouds into a wide open, blue sky. Immediately it warmed up – it was actually almost instantly too warm to be comfortable for V. berus.

The lack of warmer temperatures resulted in the spotting of a few livebearing lizards and frogs, but no more adders.

Until, on the way back to the car, there was a lot of rustling and movement in the undergrowth….Male adders fighting! They were moving at high speed, crawling over eachother like mad corkscrews and trying to push eachother down to the ground.

Not sure how long they were already fighting but they kept on going for many minutes. One of the males eventually made a quick retreat, and the victor patrolled the area to make sure his rival was gone…

The air temperature during the fight was around 23 degrees Celsius. A check with the temp gun reveiled the ground temperature: a sizzling 34 degrees Celsius. No wonder they were moving so fast!

Rest assured we got lots of footage from this amazing scene as well which will be featured in an upcoming video from us. We’ll keep you posted!