Wildwood Trust: Glorious Easter weather brings adders out of hibernation

Glorious Easter weather brings adders out of hibernation

Glorious sunshine over the Easter Holiday has awakened Wildwood’s adders, which have been released today for visitors to enjoy. The release was caught on camera and our snakes can now be seen basking in the sunshine in their specially designed enclosure.

Click here to watch our adders being released

Head Keeper Paul Wirdnam said:

“Sunny days during Easter is the best time to see adders and the cool air means the snakes need to bask on tree stumps to catch the sunshine and keep warm. Our snakes have hibernated from October and have only just woken up. After health checks, they are ready to bask in the glorious sunshine.”

Keepers are just putting finish Wildwood Trust’s second adder enclosure, which will give visitors more chances to glimpse this incredible British reptile.

Scientist have recently warned that the adder could go extinct in less than two decades. Surveys have shown that 90% of adder populations are in decline.

Wildwood's Peter Smith said:

“Wildwood’s conservation team are researching the feasibility of returning adders to the wild and are working to improve adder habitat in Kent. Our rewilding programmes offers the chance to re-create ideal habitat for adders, so they can survive the threats of intensive farming and development that threaten their existence in the UK.”

The adder is a small snake that prefers woodland, heathland and moorland habitats. It hunts lizards and small mammals, as well as the occasional small bird. In spring, male adders perform a 'dance' during which they duel to fend off competition to mate. Females incubate the eggs internally, 'giving birth' to three to twenty live young. Adders hibernate from October, emerging in the first warm days of March or April, which is the easiest time of year to find them basking on a log or under a warm rock.

The adder is the UK's only venomous snake, but its poison is generally of little danger to humans: an adder bite can be very painful and cause a nasty inflammation, but is only dangerous to the very young, ill or old. If bitten, medical attention should be sought immediately, however. Adders are secretive animals and prefer to slither off into the undergrowth than confront and bite humans and domestic animals; most attacks happen when they are trodden on or picked up. Instead, they use their venom to immobilise and kill their prey of small mammals, nestlings and lizards.

Statistics

Length: 60-80cm

Weight: 50-100g

Average lifespan: up to 15 years

Conservation status

Protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981. Priority Species under the UK Post-2010 Biodiversity Framework.

When to see

March to October.

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ABOUT WILDWOOD

Wildwood Trust opened in 1999 as a centre of excellence for the conservation of British wildlife, and was established as a registered charity in 2002. Wildwood is Kent's best British wildlife park. Home to over 200 native animals, past and present and set in 40 acres of beautiful ancient woodland where visitors can see bears, wolves, bison, deer, owls, foxes, red squirrels, wild boar, lynx, wild horses, badgers and beavers plus many more. As one of the leading British animal conservation charities in the UK, Wildwood Trust is dedicated to saving Britain's most threatened wildlife. Wildwood Trust have taken part in many ground-breaking conservation programmes to date, which include, saving the water vole, using wild horses to help restore Kent's most precious nature reserves, bringing the extinct European beaver back to Britain and returning the hazel dormouse & red squirrel to areas where they have been made extinct.