adders

Emergence from hibernation

Having spent the winter hibernating, either alone or with others in a hibernaculum (simply a name for a cavity where many snakes hibernate), the adder emerges around the end of February or the beginning of March, depending on the conditions. Although its metabolism has been slow, the adder will have lost weight, and in the case of a young one, this could be crucial if it did not feed up enough before beginning hibernation in the autumn.

Finding food is crucial at this stage, and the adders need to bask to absorb heat energy and to supplement vitamins through reactions in the skin. Mating is still some way off, probably because of the need to boost energy reserves through feeding, and the need for higher temperatures in which to become more active.

Here is a male adder, emerging from his burrow. He is not the first sign of spring, and certain not a lot of peoples’ first choice as a pointer to the season, but when he has made his first moult shortly after emerging, he is surely one of the smartest animals around. He doesn’t get a mention in Gerard Manley Hopkins’ poem "Pied Beauty", but he is as worthy of mention as those which do. Along with the snowdrops, the crocuses, and the brimstone and orange-tip butterflies, the coming of the adders is one of the many stages which mark the cycle of the seasons.

Actually, the females seem to be more prominent at first, the males only coming to notice when they start cruising around in the search for mates. After the mating season, the males often scatter, and are seen much less during the summer months.