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im not looking for a adder again

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phillip View Drop Down
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    Posted: 28 Mar 2008 at 12:06pm

i have looked all last year now and this year this week on the llyn penisula,a known site, a sunny day,morning ,south fsacing slope,slowly looking ahead,nothing. it really enoyed me i dragged my mum and dad out looking all week,dont know what im doing wrong!! i give up,so much to ask to see a 60cm wild snake for 10 seconds,if anyone is willing to take me looking lopl,im in liverpool,none around here but id appreciate a expert,

 

phil

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Suzi View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Suzi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2008 at 1:05pm

Phil,

It is very sad to hear you're giving up. There will probably be a couple of reasons you haven't seen them.

One is there aren't any at the places you go. However suitable a place might look if it lost its adder population in the past it might not have been possible for them to move in from elsewhere.

Two, if there are adders you might not be looking in the right places or at the right time. Also you need to tread very lightly.

Once someone experienced has showed you a few you will know how to look and see yourself. Has no one on here let you have details of a group that you could go along with. Most people on this forum are very supportive and helpful. I live in Devon or I could show you a few! 

Suz
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phillip View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote phillip Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2008 at 2:34pm

i wont give up, but im not looking til i know where to look.i do tread lightly and i do know there at the site the man said.i do look in the morning and late afternoon either after a shower or when the sun appears.

ill take you up on that next time im in devon haha, noone lives around here, iv  been going another siter i know there there for ages and nothing.

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Suzi View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Suzi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2008 at 5:04pm

I've always been interested in wildlife but it was only when my brother lived in Devon for a couple of years in the early 1990s and he took me out addering that I learnt to spot them. We walked along all the places I had known for years and he showed me the adders. We would see lots! I couldn't believe it.

My husband is not that interested but last year asked if I'd show him a few adders. I found a few lying out but he just couldn't see them. It takes practice honestly.

Don't give up!

Suz
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Vicar Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2008 at 5:43pm
HI Philip,

It is still a little early in the year for adder spotting. Most of the reproductive females will not be obvious yet, so you are probably limited to only half of the available population.

Mid April should give you the first best chance this year.

One of the attractions for reptile spotting...for me...is that there is a knack to spotting reptiles. I must have walked straight past 1000s before I learned how to look. Once you do start spotting them...something in your brain changes, and you recognise what to look for, and then you see them all the time....there's definitely some kind of experiential barrier to overcome...but it will happen.

You've already spotted common lizards and that will help.
Steve Langham - Chairman    
Surrey Amphibian & Reptile Group
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote administrator Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2008 at 5:46pm

It is early season, you could try around lunch time also.

I once made 18 visits to a site I knew had adders and couldn't locate them. I even identified all the likely places where they 'should' have been. It was a year later when I finally found the adults. Sitting just where I thought they should have been all along. Hard to figure it isn't it.

You will eventually get an eye for where to look, but first you need to see some. It then gets easier because you know you are looking where they should be and you tend to look a lot more carefully because you believe they will be there. Must be someone up your way willing to help. It is worth it, in time you will find you can get close and watch them for hours, if you keep still they very often don't take much notice of you and it really is worth all the effort.

Remember also adder tend to have low density populations they are hard to find. But once you know where to find them at a given site, they are yours for life

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phillip View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote phillip Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Mar 2008 at 10:37am

lol.but i want to go looking in april but theres problems

 

1.i have no adder sites near me, im not going far into wales again till atelleast septermber OR next year.so its so limimted. there is nothnig to do, i cant go looking locally as im in one of the worse places 2 find them. and i need a expert with me to show me first.

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tim hamlett View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tim hamlett Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Mar 2008 at 6:21pm

hi phillip

three things:

firstly, why don't you sign up for your nearest narrs reptile training event. there's one for north wales in mold and one for staffordshire in chasewater, both around an hour from liverpool.

secondly, i know it's difficult and frustrating but try not to dwell on the negatives too much. remember, 12 months ago you hadn't seen any native british reptiles but now you only need to see an adder and thats all four widespread species. that seems like a major achievement to me and something you should be really proud of.

finally, although this may not be something you think will work for you, i have been looking for adders too without seeing any yet. but what i've decided to do, although i'm looking in sites where adder are present, is really concentrate on looking for any reptiles. this way i always see something so i'm never disappointed and when i do come across an adder it'll be a major brucie bonus rather than a necessity in oredr for me to enjoy the day...i can't lose!

good luck

tim

 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote arvensis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Mar 2008 at 6:56pm
Phil,
     Don't give up on looking for Adders yet - patience young Jedi! I still reckon you'll find one when you least expect it.

Mark

P.S. The Slow-worm you found, was that underneath something or was it basking under the open?
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phillip View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote phillip Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Mar 2008 at 9:52am

no i woint lkol. were do i find out abot these reptile trainig thing especially the mold one?what will this include?

 

i do look for anything

i know slow worms were there iv seen one befoire but again nothing.

in 1 year ive seen 3 british reptiles wild.

all but the 1 i set off looking for, the infamous adder,

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