Interactive Moorland

Moorland

Adder

Vipera berus

Britain's only venomous snake: short and stocky, with a dark zigzag all the way down its back.

Size
About 60cm long
Look for it
March to October
Where
Moors, heaths, woodland edges and coastal paths

My spotter's list

Slides after you in slow curves, flicking its tongue. Move your pointer and see.

When to look

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Adder

Good to know

Six things about the adder

Venom

Shy, not fierce

Adders are shy and bite only if they are trodden on or picked up. A bite needs a doctor, but is very rarely serious.

Pattern

The zigzag

The dark zigzag down the back, and a V or X on the head, make an adder easy to tell from a grass snake.

Sun

Sunbathing

Snakes cannot warm themselves from inside, so adders bask in the morning sun before they hunt.

Dance

The adder dance

In spring, rival males rear up and wrestle, twisting round each other. It looks like a dance.

Young

Live babies

Adders do not lay eggs. The female gives birth to around ten tiny, fully formed young in late summer.

Tongue

Tasting the air

A snake flicks its forked tongue to pick up smells from the air and the ground.

The real thing

Photos of the adder

Adder, photo 1
Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Adder, photo 2
Photo: Benny Trapp, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Adder, photo 3
Photo: Maurizio.amendolia, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Out and about

How to spot one

Look on sunny, sheltered banks and path edges on mild mornings in March and April, when adders have just come out of hibernation and bask in the open.

Lend a hand

How to help

Leave them alone and they will leave you alone. Keep dogs close on heathland in spring, and never try to pick one up or move it.

Keep going

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