Vipera berus - a collage

After two years of membership on Venomland I guess it´s about time to actually do more than admire other members contributions. And start
my first thread.

As for many other, in particular northern European hobby herpers, the common European adder (Vipera berus) is my main source for enchanting
encounters. And the most prominent sign of springtime.

Now when winter has set in I would like to post a wish for the best remedy. Your pictures of these adders. And hopefully some describing words
to make it both easier and more interesting to relate to the pictures.

The basic idea is to show the great variation in pattern and colour, through out the range of this fantastic species.

Hence - "a collage".

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I start with the few "acceptable" shots I got.

All pictures are "in situ" and taken in, or close to, the town of Söderhamn. Which is located on the east coast, half way up through Sweden. The
typical surroundings are low-land pine forest.

First out is the spot that offer the earlist adders in early April. A quite unlikely locality close to central town, a highly trafficked road and extended
sport activities. Few stunners here this early (before the first shed) - but one is not too picky after 5 months of winter.

OK - I start with an adult male desperate for the warming sun. Chilling wind keeps the temp just a few degrees above zero. Look-vice it´s a typical
male for this area. Short before the first shed of the fresh season.




Emerging from hibernation. Depth of snow is between 0-60 cm. Only slopes that´s facing south (or south-west) are free from snow.




More or less black (melanistic) specimens are pretty usual around here. But the colour of this ladies eyes are certainly not.




Probably really nice after shed.




Adult female and a nice addition to the colour variation around this winter and early spring resort.




Last out an adult male.




Next locality is a hard one. Dense forest with few and small open areas make it very hard to spot the adders. Besides from the first half of May.
When the gather for mating, "Pretty" close to the only small forest road in the area. But they are very alert and never really exit the forest into
open areas. Instead they find spots of sun within the vegetation. This is unlucky for two reasons. One, a lot of lost opportunities to register different
individuals. Two, this locality hold the prettiest adders I´ve ever seen. With the greatest variation too.


Adult male in the classical blueish spring costume.




Adult female and the centre of attention. Two male are wrestling out of picture. She´s the price.




The zig-zag pattern of some specimens here has a tendency almost break up in spots. Not to mention the colour of this male - fancy.




Subadult male with extraordinary light ground-colour.




Truly deep blue. This male was extremely hyped on testosterone after defending and wrestling for the female pictured above. So, unfortunately this
was the best shot I could get. Normally the blueish on spring males tend to wash out in direct sunlight and turn almost whitish. Not this guy though.
As seen - he´s being hit by direct sunlight.




Last out is the only one I caught in the open around here. A naive 15 cm slugger. Short after his/hers first hibernation.




15 minutes walk into the wood there is an other spot close to a forest lake. It´s a summer stay-out though. And the adders are mostly warm and
always few. Not very herper friendly. But here´s a couple, female first and male second.






And a adult male from yet another locality.




I round it up with this specimen from a locality yet not explored. Half way up a skii slope I found this one. First guess would be that it´s just another
specimen gradually turning black. But I´m not so sure about that.



THANKS!

WOW as a lover of berus I am impressed!!!!!!

Thanks for your post.

Keep it up

Regards

Graeme

Wonderful pics Stefan!
Tnx for sharing!

I just can say the same as Graeme, thanks for that interesting post and nice shots. Hope you can keep it update.

Well this are some of the nicest V. berus I have ever seen and the photos are awesome.
Thanks for sharing Stefan.

Cheers,
Albert

Really great pictures Stefan, thanks

Stefan,
this are realy ,,big shot´s´´ and I think - acceptable for the first pictures are understatement, the quality of this pictures are very good. The bluish one is are Century berus I think, we have long to search for a bluish Viper in the tropics, ok there are some, but here in Europe?

Good work!

Thanks gents and madame!

I´m glad it was appreciated.

Most definitely I´ll add what next season has in hold. Unfortunately extensive logging destroyed seasons-11 at my favourite locality. Hopefully the vegetation has started to grow back, and the adders returned, by next spring.

I see we got UK, Germany, Sweden and Slovenia here. I would be wonderful to see some of your adders. If you find something to post, and add to the collage, it would be greatly appreciated.


Again - thanks for all the kind words.

Good idea of a post Stefan - here's is some of mine. All from the south-west coast of Norway..







Vipera berus by Thor Hakonsen, on Flickr


Vipera berus by Thor Hakonsen, on Flickr


Vipera berus by Thor Hakonsen, on Flickr


Vipera berus by Thor Hakonsen, on Flickr


Vipera berus - European Adder by Thor Hakonsen, on Flickr


Vipera berus by Thor Hakonsen, on Flickr


Vipera berus by Thor Hakonsen, on Flickr

Hello Stefan,

more than appreciated, thank you very much.
I love photos of this kind, especially if it is visible that the snakes did not get disturbed and behave normally.

Best wishes for an excellent springtime,
Rainer

Thankyou very much for the posting, very impressive looking snake in it's different forms. Remarkable animals.

Fantastic, Stefan!

"I love photos of this kind, especially if it is visible that the snakes did not get disturbed and behave normally."
I couldn´t agree more. Thors pictures are also great, but it´s something special with true in situ photos.

Petter

Nices photos!

Huge thanks folks!

Yes - it´s a special feeling to enter and leave the adders domains without disturbance. But of course - a lot of missed photo opportunities. But that´s life.



And Thor,

Thanks for catching on - nice to have Norways adders represented here. That male (last 3 pics) add to the variation right away with his large amount of black. Beautiful specimen.

And spectacular shots with the scenery in the background. Shows the reality of "tuff snakes in harsh environment".

Very nice pictures Stefan and Thor.
Allways great to see animals in their natural habitat.
V.berus is true jewels

awsome picture Stefan and Thor,nothing compare with the beauty of snakes.what can be great to see those serpents in their natural habitat.those are breath taking pictures.

Very nice pictures! Much appreciated! Can't wait for spring to arrive....

Regards
Lelle

It is like a bit of "winter sun"; reminds us all of the summer! Nice one guys.

The same true blue male, pictured above, photographed again this summer. Unfortunately my computer crashed and I lost the originals. So I only have these two remaining photos to show:

Without direct sun (cloudy).



With direct sunlight.

Hello Stefan,
that´s morethan beautiful to me. I have seen lots of V. berus in my life,including light blueish ones but never any like this one. The only European Vipers I have seen that were blue like this V. berus were 2 male V. ammodytes but they too were the only ones among thousands and only in one special area.

Thank you,
Rainer

Hello Stefan,

Thanks for sharing, an odd coloration, really nice!
Keep your locality secret!;-)

Regards

Fred

Wow, in the last few years I saw many adders, but no one like this - awesome !

Edit: Added also a few adder pictures

Rainer,
I used to see a lot of light blue males during springtime on the Swedish west-coast. This true blue male is only one this blue I've seen. Located on the east coast of middle sweden. He amazes me every time. Looks almost unreal. He's very dominant too, and I seen him mate and defend the big black female of this small forest population the 3 times I've been lucky to find them during mating (May).

It would be very fun to see your blue ammodytes. They must have been very pretty.

Fred,
Thanks!
And - sure will keep it secret! The blue male is a key part of a very small forest population. Very important specimen.

Andre,
Thanks for your addition to "the collage". Beautiful snakes and nice shots.
The male (2ond photo) is really sharp. Are they german berus?

Hello,

thanks and yes they are german berus.

Regards

Andre

Beautiful pictures, especially blue V. Berrus, amazing.