| | Vipera berus berus in Austria ... 2013 Update ;) |  |
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+15Tom Winters Tanja Schmidt Martin Romanov Daniel Claesson Tim Leerschool Grégoire Meier Guenter Leitenbauer Nigel Sowter Fabian Dirks Rainer Fesser Paul Batchelor Graeme Skinner Hans Bergman Simon Ball Markus Oulehla 19 posters |
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Markus Oulehla
Snakecharmer
Number of posts : 156
Age : 33
Location : Austria
Points : 6085
Registration date : 2008-03-09
| Subject: Vipera berus berus in Austria ... 2013 Update ;)  Thu 28 Apr - 6:08 | |
| A few friends and myself had a nice one-day trip to the Rax, on the eastside of the alps, looking for common adders. We were at about 1600 meters above sea level and had around 10° C. The weather was very unstable, changing from cloudy to rain and sometimes the the sun broke through. We found one little Zootoca vivipara and 7 adders  in this really beautyful habitat.    male    a friend taking pictures (with leather gloves of course!)  and his awesome shot  female    regards Markus
Last edited by Markus Oulehla on Tue 30 Apr - 6:16; edited 2 times in total | |
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Simon Ball
Snakecharmer
Number of posts : 110
Age : 67
Location : Perth, Western Australia
Points : 5068
Registration date : 2010-11-17
| | Subject: Re: Vipera berus berus in Austria ... 2013 Update ;) Thu 28 Apr - 13:20 | |
| Very nice. Thank you for posting. It's a treat to see these animals in their natural habitat - especially for someone like me on the other side of the world! | |
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Hans Bergman
Snakecharmer
Number of posts : 124
Age : 53
Location : Sweden
Points : 4901
Registration date : 2011-04-07
| | Subject: Re: Vipera berus berus in Austria ... 2013 Update ;) Thu 28 Apr - 13:40 | |
| Are all adders black up there?
very nice pictures | |
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Graeme Skinner
Snakemaster
Number of posts : 466
Age : 63
Location : Yorkshire, England
Points : 6198
Registration date : 2009-02-19
| | Subject: Re: Vipera berus berus in Austria ... 2013 Update ;) Thu 28 Apr - 15:34 | |
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Markus Oulehla
Snakecharmer
Number of posts : 156
Age : 33
Location : Austria
Points : 6085
Registration date : 2008-03-09
| | Subject: Re: Vipera berus berus in Austria ... 2013 Update ;) Thu 28 Apr - 16:57 | |
| Thank you all for the nice feedback  @ Simon: I really love searching reptiles and amphibians in their natural environment. Even though I really want to travel in some other countries, I think this is a very good preparation and a little safer place to be on such trips. @ Hans: We only found very dark individuals, 2 females and one male had a poor visible pattern on their back, and the females had those brighter lips. The others (all males) were all black. Maybe the black V. berus took their advantage to heat up faster and the light-colored hid? But there are "normal" colored/ patterned common adders aswell. regards Markus | |
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Paul Batchelor
Snakekeeper
Number of posts : 88
Age : 43
Location : London England
Points : 4975
Registration date : 2010-12-27
| | Subject: Re: Vipera berus berus in Austria ... 2013 Update ;) Sun 1 May - 1:05 | |
| Very beautiful scenery and some cracking shots! | |
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Rainer Fesser
Systematicus
Number of posts : 565
Age : 74
Location : Austria
Points : 6488
Registration date : 2008-03-13
| | Subject: Re: Vipera berus berus in Austria ... 2013 Update ;) Sun 1 May - 3:57 | |
| Hello Markus,
thank you for posting this. Beautiful snakes, very good photos.
Hans: Back in the seventies we made some research about V. berus in that area. In the Rax- Schneeberg- Klostertal-area (all one big population of V. berus with very high density in some places) we found 50-60% black individuals (only adults, they start brown as other V. berus), most other males were light grey, the patterned females usually brown, rarely reddish or brownish-orange. The animals Markus shows are quite typical for the black ones there - males mostly entirely black, females with lighter lips and throat.
Regards,
Rainer | |
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Markus Oulehla
Snakecharmer
Number of posts : 156
Age : 33
Location : Austria
Points : 6085
Registration date : 2008-03-09
| | Subject: Re: Vipera berus berus in Austria ... 2013 Update ;) Sun 1 May - 5:05 | |
| Hi, yes Rainer, thats exactly what we have seen! I got some other pictures of one of the females we've found ( taken by a good friend) to show the bright lips and on the last one the reddish coloration    regards Markus [b]
Last edited by Markus Oulehla on Mon 12 Sep - 22:19; edited 1 time in total | |
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Rainer Fesser
Systematicus
Number of posts : 565
Age : 74
Location : Austria
Points : 6488
Registration date : 2008-03-13
| | Subject: Re: Vipera berus berus in Austria ... 2013 Update ;) Mon 2 May - 3:04 | |
| Hello Markus,
thank you for the additional pictures. I love them. I think V. berus are beautiful snakes, and an entirely black male like the one you posted is a pleasure to look at whenever I see one.
Rainer | |
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Fabian Dirks
Serpent Chief
Number of posts : 766
Age : 42
Location : Germany
Points : 6522
Registration date : 2009-01-07
| | Subject: Re: Vipera berus berus in Austria ... 2013 Update ;) Mon 2 May - 3:23 | |
| Nice captures and some real stunners ! | |
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Nigel Sowter
Snakemaster
Number of posts : 406
Age : 60
Location : Australia
Points : 5396
Registration date : 2010-11-29
| | Subject: Re: Vipera berus berus in Austria ... 2013 Update ;) Mon 2 May - 15:20 | |
| Really like those black adders & stunning scenery. | |
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Guenter Leitenbauer
Lord of the Serpents
Number of posts : 1389
Age : 58
Location : Gunskirchen / Austria
Points : 7116
Registration date : 2008-05-17
| | Subject: Re: Vipera berus berus in Austria ... 2013 Update ;) Mon 2 May - 16:33 | |
| Great markus, Your skills as a photographer are fine! Really good work!
Kind regards,
Guenter | |
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Markus Oulehla
Snakecharmer
Number of posts : 156
Age : 33
Location : Austria
Points : 6085
Registration date : 2008-03-09
| | Subject: Re: Vipera berus berus in Austria ... 2013 Update ;) Mon 2 May - 16:49 | |
| Thanks Guenter I'm really looking forward to the next trip to the Rax, it was very impressive, so I can't wait to see more adders! regards Markus | |
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Guenter Leitenbauer
Lord of the Serpents
Number of posts : 1389
Age : 58
Location : Gunskirchen / Austria
Points : 7116
Registration date : 2008-05-17
| | Subject: Re: Vipera berus berus in Austria ... 2013 Update ;) Mon 2 May - 17:36 | |
| I appreciate the gloves  Did one try to bite? | |
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Grégoire Meier
Snakecharmer
Number of posts : 136
Age : 47
Location : Ticino, Suisse
Points : 5764
Registration date : 2008-11-27
| | Subject: Re: Vipera berus berus in Austria ... 2013 Update ;) Mon 2 May - 18:28 | |
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Markus Oulehla
Snakecharmer
Number of posts : 156
Age : 33
Location : Austria
Points : 6085
Registration date : 2008-03-09
| | Subject: Re: Vipera berus berus in Austria ... 2013 Update ;) Mon 2 May - 18:47 | |
| Safety first Guenter Generally I'm not a fan of gloves, but in some situations they are quite helpful. We came a half meter close to the adders before they tried to escape, so we were able to take some "in situ pictures". For the closer shots we catched them and took them a few meters to a clear place to take the pictures. (We brought them all back exactly to the spot where they have been catched!) When the adders noticed us, they started hissing (realy loud for such little snakes  ) then turn around and tried to escape between the rocks or into one of the bushes. After we grabed them, they hissed even louder, some of them twined around, and some do defense-bites, but they never chew on the gloves and we didn't find any sign of venom on the gloves... But all of the adders and (on other trips) grass snakes attacked the lens of the SLR cam...   regards | |
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Guenter Leitenbauer
Lord of the Serpents
Number of posts : 1389
Age : 58
Location : Gunskirchen / Austria
Points : 7116
Registration date : 2008-05-17
| | Subject: Re: Vipera berus berus in Austria ... 2013 Update ;) Mon 2 May - 20:43 | |
| Just a Nikon, of course they do They would not dare to do that with a Canon LOL | |
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Rainer Fesser
Systematicus
Number of posts : 565
Age : 74
Location : Austria
Points : 6488
Registration date : 2008-03-13
| | Subject: Re: Vipera berus berus in Austria ... 2013 Update ;) Wed 4 May - 15:16 | |
| Hello Guenter,
Sorry to have to contradict you, they DO it with Canon too. A V. ammod. even made my front-lens (daylight-filter as a protection for such events) useless on one occasion.
But the photo I could take before was worth it.
Cheers,
Rainer | |
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Tim Leerschool
Newbie
Number of posts : 23
Age : 33
Location : Leeuwarden
Points : 4924
Registration date : 2010-12-02
| | Subject: Re: Vipera berus berus in Austria ... 2013 Update ;) Tue 10 May - 2:14 | |
| Excellent shots Marcus! The vipers look stunning! I love the female one where you can still see the brownish teint on her lips, excellent! The habitat is stunning. Still with some snow! It always surprises me that they are so ''cold-resistant'' although it is no rare site in some places to see them basking just a few inches away from it. Black adders do have an advantage I believe in colder regions being darker or even melanistic. It helps them to warm up more quickly. Just as you had suggested. Last week I visited the Bayerische Wald (Germany) and Karkonoski National Park (Chzech Republic) for melanistic V. berus but no luck. I was bound to a pre-set schedule so I had almost no time to search in the right places! Still, it was a nice trip. Maybe I'll post some pictures soon Thanks for sharing. | |
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Guenter Leitenbauer
Lord of the Serpents
Number of posts : 1389
Age : 58
Location : Gunskirchen / Austria
Points : 7116
Registration date : 2008-05-17
| | Subject: Re: Vipera berus berus in Austria ... 2013 Update ;) Tue 10 May - 2:31 | |
| Rainer, where ist the photo?
I'm curious! | |
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Rainer Fesser
Systematicus
Number of posts : 565
Age : 74
Location : Austria
Points : 6488
Registration date : 2008-03-13
| | Subject: Re: Vipera berus berus in Austria ... 2013 Update ;) Tue 10 May - 4:12 | |
| Hello Guenter, here is the photo. As a photo it is not outstanding but the background of the story (not of the photo) is. Usually in this place (a hibernation- and breeding-site where I watch the snakes each spring since 1989) the Vipera ammodytes are extremely calm and inoffensive. I can stand among 50 of them and touch them or even pick them up carefully (with glove as I love to live healthy) and never experienced any attempt to bite. The male on the photo was combat-fighting with another (bigger) male 5m. above me on a bush at the upper edge of a rock-wall. Suddenly he dropped and landed right in front of my face on a little Berberis-bush that grew out of a crack in that wall. He was extremely agitated. I took some photos and when I tried to make some closeups he eventually bit the lens. Maybe he did not mean the Canon but the (Hama) filter. That might be an excuse. I agree with you: Nobody should dare to bite a Canon. Cheers, Rainer  | |
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Markus Oulehla
Snakecharmer
Number of posts : 156
Age : 33
Location : Austria
Points : 6085
Registration date : 2008-03-09
| | Subject: Re: Vipera berus berus in Austria ... 2013 Update ;) Mon 18 Jul - 10:28 | |
| Little Update: Concerning the color variation of the common adders on the Rax: Beside the black indivuduals as seen on the pictures, friends of mine found some brownisch ones, one grey with high contrast black markings on the back and a beautiful red individual (unfortunately i missed that trip...) Today (or yesterday, meanwhile) we saw a few adders, but the vegetation has grown a lot since my last visit, so it was more difficult. But we were able to take pictures of two of them Habitat  First one was a female, about 55cms length, again qiute dark with an awesome blue shimmer, bright lips, and she has got some little, irregularly distributed, golden spots on her body.     two portraits   A little later, we found a juvenile adder ~30cm, unfortunately she was going to shed, so she isn't as stunning as she'll be in a few days... We didn't want to stress this little snake to much, so we just took a few and let her go (wasn't that simple, according to her situation she never hold still and bit everything  )   In the end we enjoyed the wonderful view...  ... and were able to take pic's of this -quite stress-resistent- viviparous lizard (Zootoca vivipara). The others have been just to fast and took the advantage of the high vegetation to hide...   And we saw lots of edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum)  Hope you enjoy the pic's regards Markus
Last edited by Markus Oulehla on Fri 22 Jul - 20:28; edited 5 times in total | |
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Graeme Skinner
Snakemaster
Number of posts : 466
Age : 63
Location : Yorkshire, England
Points : 6198
Registration date : 2009-02-19
| | Subject: Re: Vipera berus berus in Austria ... 2013 Update ;) Mon 18 Jul - 15:56 | |
| I think I need to visit that part of the world to see some of those stunning berus! | |
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Markus Oulehla
Snakecharmer
Number of posts : 156
Age : 33
Location : Austria
Points : 6085
Registration date : 2008-03-09
| | Subject: Re: Vipera berus berus in Austria ... 2013 Update ;) Mon 18 Jul - 20:13 | |
| - Graeme Skinner wrote:
- I think I need to visit that part of the world to see some of those stunning berus!
I can only recommend that As always, you need the right circumstances to see some vipers, in spring the chances are much better than in summer! regards | |
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Guenter Leitenbauer
Lord of the Serpents
Number of posts : 1389
Age : 58
Location : Gunskirchen / Austria
Points : 7116
Registration date : 2008-05-17
| | Subject: Re: Vipera berus berus in Austria ... 2013 Update ;) Mon 18 Jul - 21:23 | |
| Graeme, give me an PN if You plan to come to Austria - and let's take some pictures of V. berus and other snakes together. As I am very unlucky finding snakes in the field I'd love to have a field trip with Markus and You then.
Regards,
Guenter | |
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