Black adder, a separate snake species of venomous viper or an European adder?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ส.ค. 2024
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Some European adders (Vipera berus) in mountains are pitch black! What is the reason for that? Are these vipers a separate snake species? We will explain it in this video! Watch more snake videos on our channel!
Thank you so very much the adder is my favourite snake in the world. I was born in 1962 and the adder was really common in the 1970s. One April day in 1976 I saw 38 adders in an hours, fond memories. This year I have only seen three since March very sad.
Unfortunately, these snakes are becoming rare due to loss of their habitat. It must have been awesome to see 38 in one hour!
Agreed. As a boy in the 70s I spotted them in the Summer holidays in various places in suburban Surrey. Now I have to travel several miles to Hounslow Heath or Oxshott Heath to stand a chance of seeing adders.
@@Clive697 Yes very very sad.
always love seeing the spotlight on the adder. they are such an understated species with a fascinating natural history. plus they look stunning.
We agree, adders need more attention! Thank you for watching!
Here in Croatia we call them Riđovka or Šarulja in Dalmatia. My father, aged 7, was bitten by one back in 1944. Nearby town was occupied by German army at the tiime and thanks to German doctor he is alive and kicking today. He is terrified of snakes ever since but would never hurt one. Great video btw. Pozdrav
Deaths after bites of European adders are very rare and nowadays the antivenom is not usually administered. Great to hear that your father was ok! Thank you for watching! Zdravíme!
One of my favorite species. I always love the different colorations of them.
It is a beautiful species, we agree!
Vipera Berus is a snake close to my heart. This is my local snake, love these guys!
We love them too! Beautiful snakes!
Not if they give you a kiss.
Who can’t love adders. Such beautiful species.
We absolutely agree! The black ones are very special!
The sound track with the birds was excellent too.
Sometimes we have amazing soundscapes even in the Czech Republic! 🙂
Yet another masterpiece .. you two are the best, true artists of nature documentary. Thanks!
Wow, thank you! It is awesome to know that you love our videos!
Very well made video and informative too. The adder is an impressive snake for its adaptability!
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Black adders!! Super amazing, I will be waiting here to watch this video. Keep up good quality videos.
Hopefully you loved it!
Once again, you have outdone yourself on the photography. Simply stunning 😢shots of the Adders. Just don’t know how you find so many.
I did trail walks,, and field walks in Brittany, FR. Never saw any snakes.
But this Black Adder, is so intriguing 🥰
Thank you! We specifically look for snakes and it's not easy usually! In this video you saw footage filmed during 3 years.
Amazing footage. European Adders are the very definition of a nightmare for people with snake phobias. They’re where we get the portrayal of angry, red-eyed dragons. We instinctively know that they are the last thing we want to encounter, because they just look so pissed. Beautiful creatures, and quite unique.
And nearly harmless, as far as poisonous snakes are concerned.
@@mulondokalemera7531 They can kill. kids and people with allergies. The venom can also have some long term effects, so they should be treated with respect. Anyway, as far as venomous snakes goes, they are fairly harmless, and most bites are dry bites.
Thank you! Yes, European adders always look really pissed off! But they are amazing animals which deserve our respect.
Their venom is not weak, but they are tiny and cannot inject large quantities.
@@kezzler9556 Okay...
We have a lot of adders where I live in Scotland. We have great wildlife I watched 2 baby badgers playing in the grass a few weeks ago & we have loads of deer
Nice that you have lots of wildlife there!
There's actually more sunny days in the mountains than in the lowlands ... but it gets colder up there and snakes need to be darker to warm up more efficiently,
Yes, in some mountains there can be more sunny days, true! But in some, like the mountains where we filmed adders, the weather is cloudy more often than in the lowlands. As you say, black snakes bask more efficiently :)
@@LivingZoology In the mountains of central Europe I have found black 'adders' and while some may be I have noted that many are in fact the dark morph of the slightly more venomous asp viper. They have a more upturned end on the snout, and in my experience are more inclined to advance than retreat. They are well known in the mountains bordering Italy and what was Yugoslavia/Slovenia.
I didn't know about the black one until I encountered one in the Austrian mountains while hiking. It was sitting still on a small shrub and i managed to take some beautiful pictures before it slithered off passing between my legs. It was magnificent, you could see the rainbow colours on its black scale with the sun shining, I was still baffled by it weeks later ^^
These black individuals are stunning! Congrats, great that you saw one! It took us quite a long time to find our first.
Man these snakes are so freaking beautiful. We have plenty of cool in the US but adders are just so unique with their red eyes and sexual dimorphism. Snakes here have a circle, banded or striped pattern, not zigzags.. that would be crazy.
Yes, European adders are very cool snakes! The black ones are stunning!
They first chose to be known as the Black Vegetable until Baldrick pointed out that Blackadder was more appropriate. And thus, a legend was born!
Thanks for watching!
and let's not forget the black phase of the Asp Viper, which is common in parts of Europe. They are shorter, chunkier, with a slight upturning of the snout/nose. I saw quite a few on the Yugoslavia/ Italy border when I was walking in the high mountains.
To me they also seemed more aggressive, advancing and not backing away when approached.
Black Asp vipers are awesome too! Small adders from the genus Vipera are often nervous in general.
We in Germany call them "Kreuzotter" lit. "cross adder", the bfull black morph also as "Höllenotter" lit. "Hell adder"
Beautiful snakes and much venomiuos than a rattle snake in quality but not quantity. (rattle snakes has more venom but blackadder is much stronger)
Interesting that there are 2 names in German for this species :) Yes, European adders have quite powerful venom, but they are tiny!
Contrary to belief they actually have a pretty bad bite, but they have small fangs and not a big yield, and about 50 percent are dry bites. But I saw a woman that got a bad bite. She stepped on it and the snake hung on to her foot as she tried to kick it away. She was in a very bad shape and her foot swelled up like a ballon and turned blue. Recovery was very slow also.
The important thing is that their venom yield is small. With higher venom yield the bites from this species would be more serious.
In Sweden we call this snake huggorm (the striking snake). It is found farther north than any other snake. It hibernates in winter. In northern Sweden hibernation lasts 8-9 months. 🇸🇪🐍
Brumation ot quite hibernation just so you know
Yeah, I've seen video of them out while the ground was still covered in snow/ice. Pretty amazing for something considered to be cold blooded.
Yes, they can survive in a very cold climate!
I don't think swedish snakes brumate for as long as 8-9 months. I have seen grass snakes "Natrix natrix" in late september or early october because the temperatures were warm.
They pretty much go into brumation in early autumn and wake up as soon as the temperature allow them to.
It could be early or mid april or maybe early to mid may if the winter bad been long and cold.
But I don't want non-Swedish people to get the wrong information.
This is not Antarctica. 😅😅
@@Blue_Lugia The climate in northern Sweden is much colder then in the south. Winter and snow lasts much longer. The interesting fact is that snakes can live so far north. They survive by this long winter by hibernating.
Awesome image capture of the adders - amazing.
Many thanks!
My goodness! Those snakes are beauts and w/ amazing colors. Speakin’ of which, I never knew that there’s actually a species of snake(s) that you can actually determine a female to a male by their different shades/ colors. Who da thunk it? 🤔🤯…As always, you guys did an amazing job. Thank you for sharing & teaching us (who don’t know) about these types of snakes. And oh yeah, pls keep ‘em comin’ Living Zoology! 🙏🏼
It’s called sexual dimorphism - distinct difference between size or appearance between sexes :)
We are happy that you love our videos! Sexual dichromatism is quite rare in snakes, but there are some examples, like the European adder or the Boomslang. Thanks for watching! Please consider becoming a member of our channel: th-cam.com/users/LivingZoologymembership or check our merch! living-zoology-film-studio.creator-spring.com/?
@@LivingZoology
Thanks for the heads up there, LZ. Like the saying goes, “You learn something every day”. Cheers! 🤙🏼
@@jazzvalentino4871 Exactly! Happy that we could help! :) Cheers!
We have plenty of black ones in lowland southern Sweden too.
Interesting to know that! Thanks for watching!
That black adder is a very handsome snake. I’m always impressed with how snakes inhale for effect.
We agree that these snakes are beautiful!
In the Scottish borders there are two rivers close to each other one called the white adder the other the black adder, we stayed at the black adder cottage with my grandma a few times.
Interesting!
Their eyes are red. Looks scary and beautiful at the same time.
Their red eyes are scary and beautiful 😍
Yes, red and beautiful!
Where’s Baldrick ?
We had to google and found that there is a TV series called Black viper :D
Beautiful snake. I especially like the black variety.
Thank you very much for watching, we agree that black adders are stunning!
Nadherné Gracias desde Argentina Děkuji
Thank you! Děkujeme! :) Muchas gracias!
In Austria they are called Kreuzotter and in the Mountains you see them very often .
Yes, they live also in Austria, not sure how common they are.
Omg that's a beautiful snake
Thanks for watching!
This snake is super amazing , I love the zigzag partner on the back.🙏🙏🙏
Yes, European adders are very cool snakes!
@@LivingZoology Of course! they are.
Love adders & was lucky enough to spot one in the wild a few years ago =)! They should totally be in the “venomous & fabulous” merch range I think (but me being from Scotland & adders being our only venomous snake may make me biased lol)!
Awesome that you saw one! We will consider creating a design with European adder for our merch!
Wonderful video
Thank you!
Love this! That's such a gorgeous snake! Great video!
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I find myself wondering why venomous snakes are so much more beautiful than non. I wish I could have heard them huffing. Absolutely striking individuals in this video. Melanism is awesome.
Thank you!!! Vipers and elapids are simply stunning, but many non-venomous snakes are also beautiful :)
Maravilhoso esses documentários do living zoolog
Thank you very much!
I do so love our continent!
Thanks for watching!
the blood red eyes make up for the lack of rattle
Their red eyes are stunning!
Edmund Blackadder is my favourite
Thanks for watching!
Colour variation on these is crazy. Funny thing: I´ve been hoping to see one in reality, but i just realized i am literally living right in the small part of Germany where they aren´t native...
Yes, the color variability in this species is amazing! Sorry to hear that they don’t live near you!
Great video. We have only this snake as "native" venomous in Poland and one colubrid - water snake, but they are both amazing and interesting ones. Espefially color difference in our adder and toxicity of venom that is bigger in easter dimondback rattlesnake.
Thanks for watching! European adders are beautiful snakes, their color is awesome. You also have the Smooth snake in Poland, the Dice snake and the Aesculapian snake can be found in the very southern part of Poland (only the southeast in case of the Aesculapian snake).
Yes, the most septentrional vipera of Europa. Beautifull !
Thank you very much for watching!
Jaguar's with a black coat are more numerous in the denser parts of the rainforest
Yes, that is a different thing, called Gloger's rule. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloger%27s_rule
Great video. There adders look amazing. Another species of snake that could be used to market muscle cars and shoes. I was curious about the heavy breathing that these snakes seem to be doing in the video. They almost look like they double in size with each breath. Is this their normal breathing or a threat gesture? I could not tell from the audio. Also, what separates an adder from other snake species? One last question. How are some snakes able to survive when it is cold enough to snow? Growing up, I would occasional catch a garter snake sunning itself on a mound of snow in early spring. It was weird to see a snake or snake tracks in the snow like that. Are some species of snakes able to produce a little body heat over other species? As always, a great video. Thank you. Enjoy the rest of your summer.
Thank you! The shiny black color of these adders would look amazing on a car! European adders are the most nervous snakes of all we have worked with around the world. It is so difficult not to make them agitated. One small move and they go into this defensive mode. They are not always hissing, just checking you all the time. Even though we try to film the most natural footage possible, with European adders it is tricky. No snakes can produce a body heat, but some species are more tolerant to cold weather. It is amazing how even a little sunshine lures European adders out even at the beginning of March. We are happy that you enjoyed watching our video. Have a nice summer!
@@LivingZoology are they venomous? Do they live in barns, around farm animals, eat rats, mice?
Nicely done , Thanks . Subscribed
Thank you very much for watching and subscribing! 🙏❤️
They are so beautiful
We completely agree!
I live in South Hampshire near Portsmouth and have seen several black adders near Rowlands Castle which is dry heathland. One individual black version could be seen sunning itself in the same area often. However it is some years since seeing this black version. I think human disturbance with dog walking has driven adders away and added to their scarcety.
You are right, adders don't like disturbance. They can secretly live very close to people (cottages in the mountains for example), but many people or dogs walking in their microhabitat will make them move.
My fave channel!!
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I didn't realise that we have two types of adder in the U.K. Apparently the blacks are much rarer, and an entirely different species to the common adder.
No, black adders are not a different species. They are a color variation of the European adder.
In the southern half of the United States we have something similar. Ours is a black water moccasin, and this snake reminds me of it because both are thick for their length.
Oh, interesting! We hope to find them soon in Florida!
Beautiful! Love adders!
Thanks so much! 😊 We are very lucky to have these snakes in our country!
Maybe balldrick can tell... sorry couldn't resist..lovely video!
Thanks! We had to google and found that there is a TV series called Black viper :D
Thank you Great crew
Thank you for watching!
I like Louis' shirt. I may have to buy one.
Link to our store! living-zoology-film-studio.creator-spring.com/?
Interesting 🐍
Thank you!
i had no idea they called these snakes black adders in english. we call them common adder. but those also have a bit different coloration. but its the same species name. might be the locality.
Yes, common names might vary, but all are the same species - European adder.
Bladders 😅
Thanks for watching!
We get adders in our Garden, also grass snakes, which are much much bigger and look incredibly evil.
Amazing to see adders in your garden! Grass snakes look like they are smiling! :D Adders have more of an "evil" look ;)
Great work👍❤
Thank you so much!!!
First adder I seen was melanistic must've been 4ft in length by 1.25 inch diameter only got a a few seconds to see it but it sure did scare the life out of me
Where did you see that snake? Adders never grow to that length. 2.3 feet is a giant European adder :) It was probably a dark Grass snake, they share habitats often.
The black or darker adders appear earlier than the others because they absorb sunlight better
Do you have any source for this information? We think that it is definitely not a rule and different individuals can appear at different times.
@@LivingZoology my personal observation , maybe coincidence or maybe they are easier to spot ?
@@simoncullum5019 They might be easier to spot, yes. Difficult to say this happens in general in their huge range. From our experience there is no such pattern.
I could swear I heard one whistling: Black Aaaaader, Black Aaaaader something always goes wrong.
Thank you very much for watching!
Such a beautiful beautiful snake bracho.
It is! Maybe one day you visit the Czech Republic and we can go look for them :)
@@LivingZoology count on it.. I'll certainly do so.
why the rainforest soundtrack?
It sounds like rainforest to you? It is recorded in Eagle Mountains in the Czech Republic! 5 AM in the morning and the bird sounds are amazing.
Algorithms! 💙 🙏
It will have a premiere in two weeks :)
Beautiful snakes in all variations. What is their venom toxicity? Like a copperhead maybe?
Slightly less than a copperhead, it's almost never fatal, the last death to an adder was 47 years ago
The venom is quite toxic, stronger than a venom of Copperhead (according to LD50) but they have a very low quantity.
Did whoever filmed the Black Adder call it Edmund
Why Edmund? Explain please 🙂
@@LivingZoology Because of Edmund from Blackadder.
The sound of hoof beats 'cross the glade,
Good folk, lock up your son and daughter.
Beware the deadly flashing blade,
unless you want to end up shorter.
Black Adder, Black Adder!
He rides a pitch black steed.
Black Adder, Black Adder!
He's very bad indeed.
Thanks for watching.
👍❤️
Thanks!
My uncle used to call them "pashy cloots" just a nickname I guess! Even today I call them pashy cloots and people laugh
Haven't saw on in a year at least
Does it have any meaning? :) We are not English native speakers and we never heard this before :D
@@LivingZoology no I think its just a nickname he made up for them.
At 9:45, the snake shown seemed to be larger in diameter at it's posterior end than at any other point in the length of it's body. Is it gravid? Have a tumor? Or?
We had a feeling like the snake has some kind of problem. It looked like it is constipated.
@@LivingZoology Is it really a wild snake, or a long-term captive loaned for the purpose of making this video? If it were constipated (intestinal impaction) I suspect it would look scrawny, due to depressed appetite...
@@Joe_Goofball It's a wild snake, found in this state. We don't know what happened to it, we were just thinking it can be constipated.
Have any been reported in Scotland? We have plenty adders here but haven’t seen this specimen?Fraser
No idea about that, we think that they might be present in Scotland.
@@LivingZoologyThere are! Black adders occur as a fairly small percentage in adder populations throughout Britain (Rueben's Reptiles has some in their vids from the South Downs in Sussex) without being obviously more common as you go north, but as it happens the only one I have seen was in Scotland. Southern Highlands, broadly north of Crieff, on a patch of grass in an area of heather moor with a lot of black deer droppings on it - and it was disguising itself so successfully as a pile of deer poo that I almost sat down beside it before I noticed what it was! Incidentally it wasn't absolutely black, when I looked closely I could just make out the zigzag against a slightly less black background.
Is it just me, or do these adders have really intense eyes.
Yes, they have! Beautifully red!
I have a question but what does a European adder look like and I am asking because I am from the USA and like I know it’s the only venomous snake in Britain but I have never seen an adder before and when I think of venomous snakes I only think of cobra’s, Coral Snakes, Rattlesnake’s and The water and highland Moccasin’s aka the Cottonmouth and Copperhead.
Please watch this video, it is all about European adders. We also show the typical coloration.
@@LivingZoology okay thanks.
Hello, video writer, are all the blackened vipers in this video pure wild individuals?
Hello, yes, all vipers were found in the wild and left in the wild after filming 🙂
Too difficult to read the text as it is so small and faint.
Sorry to hear that! We always try to make the text easily readable.
Интересно и красиво .
Thank you for watching.
European vipers can attack if they are scared, but in general they are not aggressive. Once I accidentally peed on a viper right in front of me, the viper didn't even leave lol
In Estonia, black vipers can be found more often in the islands. The reason should be similar - it's less hot and more humid and cloudy there, than in the mainland.
Yes, these snakes will only strike if really provoked! They are awesome. Thanks for info about their coloration in Estonia!
@@LivingZoology There is an old but really good doc "Tavaline rästik", the full movie is available in Estonian TV (ERR) archives. With all the scenes, including mating rituals, giving birth and so on, I guess it is worth of watching even without translation.
I like the melanistic specimens better. Very handsome snakes. The individual in the video appeared rather agitated. Heavy breathing. Are specimens from the far
North also more melanistic?
Very handsome snakes, we agree! We try to film the natural behavior of snakes, but European adders are very reactive and often breath heavily when they see a human. Populations in the northern part of the range of this species have more dark individuals.
got bitten by a very dark or black adder as a kid nearly cost me my life as a kid it was in sweeden and the place was cravling withe adders and the sry danish (snog and stålorm) and since it was black and i couldent se the head i thougth it was a snog wicth is black and has yellow spots behind the head
my mistake it bit me in the rigth thumb less than 5 min after i couldent speak and everything was spinning lol woke up in a hospital a couple of days latter (short version)
but damn beattyfull animals
Sorry to hear that you got bitten, but great that you recovered! We agree that these snakes are beautiful!
@@LivingZoology tottaly my own stupid selfes fault couldent blame anything or anyone but me
@@caythorgrimson It is awesome that you don’t blame the snake 🙂 You learn from mistakes, thank you for sharing your story.
I don't think it is anything to do with lack of sunlight in the mountains. If that were the case, the UK with its dismal, grey weather and rain, would have nothing but black adders.
In some mountains there is more sunlight than in lowlands, in some not. The regions where we filmed black adders are very cloudy and we heard about other examples from other countries in Europe.
amazing🥰
Thanks 🤗!
Everyone in my family exept me has gotten bitten by this snake. We have lots of them here.
Wow, why so many people in your family got bitten? Do you catch them by hand? Or so many accidents?
No, just stupidity and bad luck. My sister got bitten in the hand when she picked up a tennis ball in the grass. My brother when we were in the forrest and so on. We caught one when I was a kid and put it in a bucket with a lid on. We put it in our stable just to scare the girls. It did but no one was bitten luckily.
Now I dont see them as often. There are a lot of ants where I live now and they dont like places with a lot of ants. We have a big one where I play golf. It is always sunbathing under the same tree.
European Adder r venomous or not?
It is venomous.
European Adders are not poisonous? Whenever I see the slit pupils it throws me off living in the USA. Are these poisonous?
No, they are not poisonous. Please watch the video and read the text carefully. They are venomous.
real black beauties
We agree, thanks for watching!
well Baldrick show me your cunning plan
Haha, thanks for watching!
I've heard of the dead adder but never the black adder, I just know that they are among the most poisonous in Australia,am i wrong😁
Yes, death adders are one of the most venomous snakes in Australia and on Earth, we are just working on a video about the Common death adder 😀
@@LivingZoology I haven't heard of that type to, my modest knowledge,came from the EU😁
Snakes are venomous not poisonous. Poison and venom do not work the same way
How can I identify the adder..🤔
It is usually about 50 cm long, quite fat body and short tail, typically it has a dark zigzag line on the back, vertical pupil, small scales on the head, it looks like it is angry (compared to colubrids which look like they are smiling), it has keeled scales, it mostly lives in mountain regions in Europe.
@@LivingZoology thanks bro for ..... Good information...... 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍
@@LivingZoologyIn Britain they occur right down to sea level, they have even been filmed swimming in the sea. In fact their upper limit is 300-400m, so they specifically don't occur in our mountainous areas except in the valleys.
@@davidcranstone9044 Interesting! The climate in Britain is colder than in continental Europe so it makes sense that they live in lower elevations.
in indonesia , also death adder the name
Death adder is elapid, not a viper.
Do death adders occur in Indonesia - I don't think they do? The European adder (Vipera berus) certainly doesn't. I am guessing that raizel55's death adder is either the Eastern Russell's Viper (I think that occurs on Sumatra), or one of the many pit vipers - perhaps the Malayan pit viper since most of the others seem to be considered non-lethal.
It's "Or a" not "Or an" and no they're not a seperate species.
Seems like you did not watch the video.
They're not just "European", they also occur in Russia and other countries.
Yes, they occur also in Asia, but their common name is European adder.
Rowan Atkinson, an extinct species!
Thanks for watching!
Black adders are melanistic VIpera Berus
they're not a separate species lmao
Did you watch the video?
@@LivingZoology Yes I did, but your video is clickbait since the answer is obvious and could've easily been put in the title.
@@striderwhiston9897 The answer is not obvious for many people actually. We get asked about it very often.
@@LivingZoology "Black adder? Not a separate species!"
Algorithm!
What do you mean by that? :)
To jest żmija zygzakowata-vipera berus w różnych odmianach ubarwienia.
Thank you for watching!
Hello, video writer, are all the blackened vipers in this video pure wild individuals?
Hello, yes, all vipers were found in the wild and left in the wild after filming 🙂