by Vikki Swinburn –
Ever wondered what the nation’s favourite animals are? Nature conservation charity Fauna & Flora asked 100 people in Great Britain this very question in a 2025 survey and found the answer. 10% of people chose the fox, making it the most popular choice, with hedgehogs following closely behind with 9% of the vote. In third place was the deer, and in fourth was the elephant, with tigers and otters receiving an honourable mention. What struck me about these results was just how many mammals there were. Besides one rogue answer of a Komodo dragon, not a single reptile was listed.
Many reptiles are misunderstood and underappreciated, none more so than the snake, which often faces persecution due to people’s fear. Approximately 10% of the world’s population has a fear of snakes, with around half the population feeling some level of anxiety towards them. These attitudes have had an impact on many snake populations and their conservation, with roughly 100 species considered endangered by the IUCN.
Of the three snake species found in Great Britain, only the adder (Vipera berus) can survive in the cold climates of Scotland. As the UK’s only venomous snake species, the adder is the most feared and misunderstood of the three. One common misconception that fuels this fear is that a bite from an adder can kill a healthy adult. Whilst an adder bite can be serious, it is very rarely fatal. There have been only 10 reported deaths attributed to adder bites in the last 100 years, the most recent involving a child in the 1970s. Unless threatened or provoked, these animals are described as being very reserved and are unlikely to strike at a person. Despite this, many European countries have folklore that views the adder as a bad omen, with snakes in general being associated with deception and evil. These beliefs can be seen to have an effect on the species’ conservation efforts.
Currently, the European adder is classified as ‘Least Concern’ by the IUCN. However, its population is rapidly declining due to habitat loss and fragmentation, human-driven climate change, and the use of pesticides. When an isolated, declining population of adders in the UK was genetically investigated, a striking degree of relatedness was found. Many individuals within the population were as closely related as half-siblings, suggesting that inbreeding could become a concern for future generations. Similarly, fluctuations in temperature due to climate change are causing concern over the potential impacts to an adder’s seasonal behaviour, which is largely determined by the surrounding climate. Despite these concerns, this species remains under-researched and its conservation efforts underfunded due to persistent misconceptions and fear.
I, for one, am determined to rewrite the narrative surrounding this incredible species and encourage people not only to overcome their fear of snakes but also to become advocates for their protection. In fact, my own perspective on snakes was challenged and changed during my time working in Costa Rica before I came to Aigas. I, too, was wary of these animals because I didn’t understand them, and much of the media portrays them in a negative light. I personally blame the villainous snakes in Disney’s Robin Hood and The Jungle Book for instilling this perception in me. All it took was a few inspiring individuals to show me I was wrong and completely change my opinion—and that’s exactly what I hope to do here.
Three Reasons Adders are Awesome
Combatting the Cold
Adders have adapted to survive in cold climates that no other snakes can withstand, hence why they are the only snake species we get here in Scotland. In fact, they are the northernmost species of snake, with parts of their range extending 125 miles into the Arctic Circle. They have done this by adapting to a seasonal lifestyle that involves basking in the sun during the warmer months and entering the reptilian equivalent of hibernation during winter. As adders bask in the dappled sunlight of autumn, their bodies register the shortening of daylight hours, and their metabolism begins to slow down, which reduces their level of activity. This process is called brumation, where instead of hibernating in a true sleep, reptiles simply reduce their activity levels in order to conserve energy during periods of reduced prey availability and cold. Adders have adapted to undergo brumation in underground burrows in order to conserve as much heat as possible, as even blankets of snow can act as insulating layers. In addition to these behaviours, some individuals have also adapted to be more melanistic. Despite their colouration being more obvious to predators, being darker means they can absorb more heat, making it worth the risk for some individuals.
The Dance of the Adders
Male adders often dance in a well-known phenomenon called the ‘Dance of the Adders’. Competing males will come together either to defend their pre-existing mating ground or to challenge another male for access to his mating ground. Male adders are known to have well-defended territories that they return to year after year, where they will ambush females as they emerge from brumation to mate. This act of challenge and defence consists of the two males trying to pin each other to the ground in order to prove their strength. This looks a little like they are trying to plait themselves together, but it is an incredible sight to have the privilege of watching. Once a male has won access to a territory, he will mate with a female and stay with her for several hours after copulation to defend her, making sure he is the only one to mate with her. Females then have the incredible ability to incubate their eggs whilst they are still inside their bodies, protecting them from predation. This process is called ovoviviparity, and results in female adders giving birth to 12–20 live young after a four-month gestation period. These young adders will only stay with their mother for a few hours before leaving to live on their own.
Super Senses
Adders have adapted to have incredible senses in order to navigate the world around them and communicate with others. Vertically slit pupils allow the adder to have well-developed eyesight, designed specifically for hunting at dawn and dusk when there is less light. Much like using a higher aperture on a camera lets in less light, keeping more of the field of view in sharp focus, the slit pupils of an adder work in a similar way. This allows them to have exceptional precision and focus when hunting, where they will sit and wait for their prey to appear before ambushing. Despite not having an outer ear, adders also have exceptionally good hearing, as they have adapted to use the vibration of sound waves. These sound waves strike the adder’s skin, and the vibrations are transferred through several bones and muscles before reaching the snake’s jaw and, finally, the inner ear. This allows them to hear predators and prey moving before they enter the adder’s field of vision. Like much of the animal kingdom, adders also have an incredible sense of smell, which they use to seek out prey and potential mates. They flick their tongues to pick up tiny particles in the air, which they transfer to their olfactory system, creating a detailed chemical picture of their surroundings.
I could go on and on listing all the ways adders have made their way into my heart, from their ability to move their fangs independently, to their important role in the ecosystem by controlling the populations of prey species while also serving as prey themselves, but alas, I do not have the time. I hope this short post has started to change your perspective on these incredible creatures and that you are starting to feel a cautious curiosity, if nothing else. More so than most families, snakes need people to advocate for and protect them from the persecution of generations past. It is time we started changing the narrative surrounding this incredible species and helped people to see snakes as they truly are, so that we can see them thrive.
