fieldherping.eu

Niklas Ban wrote: Yes, there are V. berus berus which are very relaxed, cause they live near high frequented paths and they
doesn't care if you are close to them until you touch them (hyperbole ). I don't know if there are some
in "bosniensis" like this and I have way to little experience with "bosniensis".

I've had the experience with some fifty-or-so V. berus berus in Gorski Kotar (Croatia), and I've attributed
their being so "relaxed" and "sedate" to quite the opposite - that they very seldom meet "predators" like
humans. In contrast to that, the V. b. bosniensis in the environs of Zagreb see them every day, so that
just might be the reason for their "nervousness" - again, quite the opposite of what you suggest...
But there might be a bonus to that: Most of the locals there don't even know they have such dangerous
beasts "around the house", because the beasts disappear quickly enough, before having been noticed by
them at all. Believe it or not, but that's the local situation we encountered there, when it comes to the
majority of the local residents.

In general the flight behaviour might be caused by habitat (have they much contact with people?!) and
temperature and the personal nature of the individual.
Even my local adderpopulations have huge differences in their flight behaviour.

A solid YES, of course, to all that. But, e.g., regarding the contact with humans, what is it that makes them
"sedate" - a regular contact with humans, or just the opposite? Believe me, I'd really like to know, but I doubt
we ever will... Both of us, and the rest as well...

I don't have any experiences with bosniensis, but there are also a lot oft differences in the escape distance oft local populations of V. berus and between single individuals where I live. There are for example adders in small bogs in the woods which flee directly and there are also ones along the paths which don't flee until you stand right in front of them. Of course it depends from the season and the weather.

Well, regarding the (unreliable, of course) statistics: Compare the number of in situ photos of V. berus berus
and V. berus bosniensis available ANYWHERE. Not a strong argument, of course, and I really wouldn't push my
unfounded (yes!) "crazy" thesis any more and any further. Enough of that, for the time being.
I do know, as anybody else does, that many more fielherpers and many more cameras have been focused on
V. b. berus than on V. b. bosniensis, for quite understandable reasons. That's a fact. Any personal impressions
from the field are just only personal, until they would have become a reliable statistics, which they probably
won't so soon. So, let's rather drop the subject, unless someone has to contribute something worthwhile.