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Adder in UK
Posted:
Tue May 12, 2015 12:26 amby Jay Steel
I performed my first adder survey of the year today at a Kent site that is scheduled for development and the building of a new crematorium in its place. I saw five Adders, a few Common Lizards and plenty of Slow Worms. It's such a shame that these beautiful reptiles will be relocated to another site. This adult female was enjoying the sunshine.
Adder130_JasonSteel_800
Adder131_JasonSteel_800Larger photos on my website here:
http://www.jasonsteelwildlifephotography.yolasite.com/adders-4.phpJason
Re: Adder in UK
Posted:
Tue May 12, 2015 6:39 amby Will Atkins
beautiful photos as always Jason! I hope those adders are going to a decent receptor site - it's a shame they need to be moved, as you say, especially to make way for a people-burning factory...
Re: Adder in UK
Posted:
Tue May 12, 2015 9:54 pmby Jay Steel
Thanks Will. It is a real shame as you say.
Re: Adder in UK
Posted:
Tue May 12, 2015 10:03 pmby Francesco Tri
hopefully not be transferred in..... paradise
Re: Adder in UK
Posted:
Wed May 13, 2015 4:23 pmby Frédéric Seyffarth
My fears too
Re: Adder in UK
Posted:
Wed May 13, 2015 5:22 pmby Jeroen Speybroeck
There's a paper on translocation of a viper species (not European, can't remember which) showing that survival of translocated animals was only 10%.
Re: Adder in UK
Posted:
Wed May 13, 2015 5:26 pmby Jeroen Speybroeck
Another one, saying resident snakes live 3x longer than translocated ones.
http://www.harding.edu/plummer/pdf/plum ... ls2000.pdf
Re: Adder in UK
Posted:
Wed May 13, 2015 6:29 pmby Daniel Bohle
http://www.bafg.de/DE/05_Wissen/04_Pub/ ... cationFilepage 55, just in german
a bit strange written so hard to understand what they did and what happend, but I would say...the translocation totaly failed!
Re: Adder in UK
Posted:
Wed May 13, 2015 7:55 pmby Will Atkins
I have no doubt that most adder translocations in the UK fail. Unfortunately the methodology is still supported by our laws which protect the animals but not the habitat (animals presumably being able to survive independently of habitat). It doesn't help that the technique is even supported by those who should know better, as in the (in)famous case in England where adders from coastal Essex were translocated to a disused airfield in Wiltshire (200km plus away) which was backed by the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust as recently as a couple of years ago.
Re: Adder in UK
Posted:
Wed May 13, 2015 9:55 pmby Berislav Horvatic
I have a layman's (well, OK, layperson's, or "pedestrian") question: Is the very act of translocating the
animals so harmful to them, or rather just the inadequate habitat to which they are translocated? Or
both? Or what, actually?
What if one translocates them to an even "much better" habitat? (I mean, much "better" as far as WE
can estimate, to the best of OUR (still poor) knowledge, of course... not THEIR actual preferences...)