Excellent shots!
Well done, Distinctly Average.
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Most probably because at least recently (many years actually) there is not confirmed case of someone "subtracted").So why is it an adder if it could subtract someone from the population?
More seriously, nice pics!
They definitely have some personality. One local black V. berus is happy to sit on his little patch and be photographed. He will taste you and if you take it easy he will pose then go back to sleep in the sun. Another nearby male will look very 6 pints of special brew football hooligan aggressive before bottling it and vanishing into the brambles.Most probably because at least recently (many years actually) there is not confirmed case of someone "subtracted").
My own experience: V. berus is rather tame, I have tried to disturb it in few occasions and it's reaction was very defensive (in one of the occasions it was nearly maximal sized snake ~75-80cm long and rather tick) - it was just trying to escape (always!)!.
With Vipera ammodytes it's different story: once we got in cross tracks on a mountain, narrow trail and it was aggressively saying "I go first". I had to use my butterfly net to teach it that I'm at the upper position in the food chain. In few other occasions it was acting kind of the same. On many other confrontations it was just getting under the rock or sliding in the grass... I mean they have some personality!
The adder is the UKs only poisonous snake. As such it has a bit of a bad rep, especially in some of the moronic national newspapers who have published some relly ignorant scare stories over the years.
The shots below were all taken handheld with either my 60mm macro lens or the 100-400II. The 60mm shots had the snakes just CMs from the lens. The adders are often very timid and will flee if you get too near, but allow them to get used to you and they will relax. So much so, on one occasion a female curled up on my black trainer to get some warmth.
Well said. It is just so sad to see the regularly in the press getting a bad rep. At one site near me the Telegraph did a big piece scaring people after one was seen near a babies buggy and the father was forced to chase it away with a stick. Turns out a lady of 76 that lives next to the site was so frightened to go out after reading the story she didn’t leave her house for 8 months. Eventually someone helped her, educated her about the snakes and two years later she is out counting and photographing them.Adders are lovely and one of the easier snakes to manage. In general my cats bite me multiple times a day and my snakes haven't bitten me in years as they only really bite when young and prefer to hiss and retreat where possible. A bite from an adder is also not partially dangerous unless you take a bad reaction to it. Chances of it envenomating you are also low to begin with as that is a lot of resources to waste on something that can't be a meal.
Mine are mostly pet rocks. But some people thought I was raising my cats as snake food. People are in general rather stupid about things they don't know about and seem to choose to not learn. Even the 16 foot Burmese isn't interested in my cats and no he isn't eating the pets about the neighbourhood. He only eats defrosted rabbits and refuses to eat anything else because he is a big baby that can't even settle in his vivarium without the Winnie the Pooh blanket he hatched out on. Wild snakes on the other hand usually just want to go to the warm bit then the cool bit then maybe possibly eat something once a month or year. Chricky I have had Ball Pythons refuse to eat for 18 months because they are fussy wee buggers that go off eating at random sometimes (which my cat is very pleased about as he gets any mouse that doesn't disappear overnight so not to waste it.)Well said. It is just so sad to see the regularly in the press getting a bad rep. At one site near me the Telegraph did a big piece scaring people after one was seen near a babies buggy and the father was forced to chase it away with a stick. Turns out a lady of 76 that lives next to the site was so frightened to go out after reading the story she didn’t leave her house for 8 months. Eventually someone helped her, educated her about the snakes and two years later she is out counting and photographing them.
Thanks. I was testing out the Z9 to see if its fox eye AF was as good as the R5 I tried. And I was delighted to find out it was significantly better than the R5 at sticking to the subject. I hope by the Z9ii, R3ii, R5ii era we'll stop caring about boxes lighting up on eyes.Lovely shots Photo Bunny. Love the tack sharp eyes.
So cute! Well done, R1-7D.
"But some people thought I was raising my cats as snake food" - !Mine are mostly pet rocks. But some people thought I was raising my cats as snake food. People are in general rather stupid about things they don't know about and seem to choose to not learn. Even the 16 foot Burmese isn't interested in my cats and no he isn't eating the pets about the neighbourhood. He only eats defrosted rabbits and refuses to eat anything else because he is a big baby that can't even settle in his vivarium without the Winnie the Pooh blanket he hatched out on. Wild snakes on the other hand usually just want to go to the warm bit then the cool bit then maybe possibly eat something once a month or year. Chricky I have had Ball Pythons refuse to eat for 18 months because they are fussy wee buggers that go off eating at random sometimes (which my cat is very pleased about as he gets any mouse that doesn't disappear overnight so not to waste it.)