Never thought I'd ever see one. Just managed to get my phone out before he slithered away.

Is this an adder?

by Jonny7421

23 comments

  2. You are in Scotland: it will be one of 3 things. Grass snake, slow worm or adder. Slow worms have almost no markings, grass snakes not so much a pattern as a series of darker slashes down the sides, adders have Diamonds on their back.

    Congrats , this is an adder.

    The other UK snake, the smooth snake doesnt survive as far north as Scotland.

  3. Yes an adder. They’re surprisingly more common than you’d think, I’ve seen them a few times before. Common around Dumfries and Galloway, often seen dead on the road from sunbathing on the tarmac.

  6. It’s crazy to me that we’ve actually got proper snakes here, I grew up in the Highlands spending lots of time outside and never seen a sign of one. They’re almost as elusive as Nessie.

  8. Female adder (male is light grey against the blavk zig-zags whereas the female has the brown colouring against the black).

  9. I was bitten by an adder, decades ago, whilst helping clear a paddock of hay. I had obviously trodden on it and never notice as I was occupied. My, then MIL (ex Army Nursing Sister in the war), recognised the wound site. I suffered some heavy flu-like symptoms and had a swollen ankle. I was fine though.

  12. Yeah, it’s a female adder. She wants nothing to do with people. She won’t hurt you at all unless you either step on her by accident (even then unlikely) or unnecessarily fuck with her. Really misunderstood creatures and one of the only few we have in the UK. They’re amazing, really. Even at that I got tagged by an asp viper in Portugal and had a pretty miserable but none dangerous reaction. Most venomous snakes aren’t deadly venomous to a lot of healthy people.

  14. That’s a slow worm. Seen loads of them about when I was a kid. Friendly little things x

  16. I *almost* picked up a snake in the highlands (don’t remember where exactly… it was near a loch) when I was 8 or 9. I thought it was cute and wanted to pet it. But my dad said “oh, that’s an adder: mibbe just leave it alone”. I know they’re not that aggressive or dangerous but probably don’t like being picked up like that.

  18. Probably an adder Britain’s only native snake as I understand it

  19. I seen one up Conic Hill a couple of years back. Remeber it had a big diamond on its head, the head itself seemed quite wide.

  20. One eyed purple headed spitting trouser python! Deadly in the right hands

  21. Lots of adders at loch Doon, I’m up there most days with the dog. You get them on the road soaking up the heat on a good summer day, not that there’s been many of them recently.

  23. Unrelated foreigner question here: is Loch Doon pronounced the same as lock down in Scottish accents?

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