Todays Sightings

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   In a rushed field trip of 20 minutes , checking an area of about 40ft x 40ft I saw 4 Berus in Surrey today.
3 females , 1 beautiful male.

Alan

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Alan Hyde Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 17 Apr 2003 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1437	Post Options Post Reply Quote Alan Hyde Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Todays Sightings Posted: 27 Apr 2003 at 7:38pm
	In a rushed field trip of 20 minutes , checking an area of about 40ft x 40ft I saw 4 Berus in Surrey today. 3 females , 1 beautiful male. Alan

Mike Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 15 Feb 2003 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 78	Post Options Post Reply Quote Mike Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 09 May 2003 at 11:52am
	Tony, Could scan it for you if that helps, can't do slides though. I'm in Aldershot, or Camberley during the day.
	Britains smallest Country Park ? - Brickfields Country Park Soemtron

Alan Hyde Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 17 Apr 2003 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1437	Post Options Post Reply Quote Alan Hyde Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 16 May 2003 at 1:13pm
	That's good news , nice job. It's amazing how many people are changing these days and wish to learn rather than just kill on sight. I wrote an article last summer for Amateur Gardener magazine, giving tips on either detering snakes from the garden , or how to deal with them in a friendly way should a snake turn up. This was mainly because I was soooo tired of hearing the old ,"I hit an adder with a shovel because it was in my garden story" . Usually the snake killed is A grassy or slow-worm , but sometimes of course it may be an adder , but still no need to kill it if you know how to deal with the situation. Anyhow, I gave the magazine my email address, saying readers could contact me for further advice or maybe if I was local removals. The response was great , I recieved quite a few emails from gardeners that would much rather be herp friendly if they possibly could. Anyway, glad to hear your little adder is safe and sound. Alan

Alan Hyde Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 17 Apr 2003 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1437	Post Options Post Reply Quote Alan Hyde Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 28 May 2003 at 8:24pm
	Interesting you mention water Tony. I've often thought how many herps are kept incorrectly after observation in the wild abroad. Hyla arborea can reguarly be found in very high tempretures basking in full sun . Pool frogs , marsh frogs , and natrix tessalatta , all reguarly seen in very warm pools and streams . I have no idea how warm as I've not carried a thermometer , but the water certainly felt warm to my hand. I once watched a male berus swimming in a stream at Bisley ,. When I paddled in he became very deffensive , swimming against the current towards me hissing . I suppose he probably felt vunerable in that situation. Alan

Wolfgang Wuster Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 374	Post Options Post Reply Quote Wolfgang Wuster Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 03 Jun 2003 at 9:25am
	Hi Tony, I saw this kind of thing in late May/early June in N. Wales some years back - lots of activity, males twitching and chasing each other and acting weird, as if the mating seaon was still in progress. All this round the hibernaculum. I rememebr thinking it was odd and verylate back then. Cheers, Wolfgang

-LAF Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 03 Apr 2003 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 317	Post Options Post Reply Quote -LAF Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 03 Jun 2003 at 10:48am
	In 2001 I observed Adders copulating in mid August on a Fen Nr Pentraeth (sic?), Anglsey. The male followed the femal, did the tail tickling thing, and got down to business sucessfully. After a few mins the female moved away a few feet, the male followed and repeated the process again. No other males seemed to be present. I went back to to find my girlfriend (who had my camera) and got back around half an hour later. The female was still under the same gorse bush where I'd last seen her but the male was about 5m away crossing a clear area. I remember this one well as it's the only time I've managed to observe copulation in Adders, and it struck me as strange to be so late in the year. Don't know if they can do the sperm retention thing or if it was just bad judgemnet on their behalves. Cheers, Lee.
	Lee Fairclough

Wolfgang Wuster Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 374	Post Options Post Reply Quote Wolfgang Wuster Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 03 Jun 2003 at 3:36pm
	Hi Lee, I suspect we are talking about the same place... Cheers, Wolfgang

-LAF Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 03 Apr 2003 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 317	Post Options Post Reply Quote -LAF Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 03 Jun 2003 at 4:18pm
	Yeah, it's the only hibernaculum I know in that area. These were out on the heath behind the lake though, never found many around the hibernaculum after May. So what do you reckon it could be? A strange manifestation of IBD (well, it is Anglsey... lol), unique local population factors (sperm retention?), something in the water, boredom...? I haven't got a clue, that's for sure. Cheers, Lee.
	Lee Fairclough

Wolfgang Wuster Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 374	Post Options Post Reply Quote Wolfgang Wuster Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 03 Jun 2003 at 4:42pm
	Beats the proverbial out of me - V. berus is not supposed to do all this V. aspis-type, autumn mating/prologed sperm retention stuff - one could conceive of some specimens being a bit late (e.g., into late May/early June), but August? Either there is a lot more plasticity in adder amting cycles than anyone ever imagined, or some are just horny all year round - beats me. The only real way of knowing would be to determine the presence or otherwise of sperm in the male - not sure whether that is feasible without sacrificing the animal - Tony, any thoughts on this?? Cheers, Wolfgang

Wolfgang Wuster Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 374	Post Options Post Reply Quote Wolfgang Wuster Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 04 Jun 2003 at 8:21pm
	Yup, fixed for a few days in formalin, before being transferred to DNA-friendly ethanol. Of course, the real tragedy is that the formalin seriously scuppers your chances of getting DNA data out of the things, or at least makes it such a pain that it is hardly worth bothering with, at least for large-scale studies. I could cry myself to sleep when I think about the millions of the largely unusable specimens (for molecular purposes) sitting on the world's museum shelves... Cheers, Wolfgang