Adder or Viper (Vipera berus Linnaeus))
This snake often goes unseen and really has to be looked for as it lies
basking in the sun well concealed by surrounding cover. In Epping Forest this
snake seems to favour the plains in the North and West. Laver records W. Cole
as seeing a specimen of the dark form of the adder in 1883 at Loughton. Much
information on this snake was published by Malenoir in his surveys of Forest
reptiles during 1958-1961 and the reader is referred to these articles. His records
indicate that the adder is much more common than was formerly supposed.
Earlier records had indicated the scarcity of the animal and Fitter 1949 reported
it as "very rare north of the Thames" and "in Epping Forest, where it was
abundant at the turn of the century it has become very scarce, but was seen in
Monk Wood in 1936-38". Stubbs (1920) regarded it as very rare in the Forest
and feared its extinction. He recorded adders near Theydon Bois in 1910 and
odd ones since that date. Malenoir records fair numbers of adders, in 1958 77
were seen on 20 days although some of these were counted several times. During
1952-1957 reports came from Lords Bushes, Monk Wood, Debden Green and
Lippits Hill. In 1961 Malenoir found adder numbers tending to decrease,
possibly as a result of the fires of 1959. The Forest Conservation Centre record
adders as follows, one at Speakmans Pond in 1973, in 1974 one at Paul's
Nursery, one at Rushy Plain and one at Nursey Lawn. In 1975 one at Long
Running and a pair on Whitehouse Plains. In 1977 one at Wake Valley. Mr K.
Hoy records one pair of adders on Deer Shelter Plain in 1977.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank the following for records contained in this report Mr
K. Hoy, Dr D. Corke and Mr P. Moxy and his staff at the Epping Forest
Conservation Centre.
REFERENCES
BOULENGER, G. A. (1887). Palmated Newt in Epping Forest. Essex Nat., 1;8.
BUXTON, E. N. (1923). Epping Forest (9th edition), London, 179pp.
COLE, W. (1900). Palmated Newt at Buckhurst Hill. Essex Nat, 11: 142-143.
FITTER, R. S. R. (1949). A Check-List of the Mammals, Reptiles and Amphibia of the London
Area, 1900-1949. London Naturalist, 28: 98-115.
LAVER, H. (1898). The Mammals, Reptiles and Fishes of Essex. Essex Field Club Memoirs, 3:
138pp.
MALENOIR, G. (1963). Further Notes on the Reptile and Amphibian Survey of Epping Forest
1959-1961. Essex. Nat, 31: 141-147.
MALENOIR, G. & PICKETT, C. (1968). A Survey of Adders in an Area of Epping Forest. Essex
Nat. 32: 179-186.
SMITH, M. (1951). The British Amphibians and Reptiles. London318pp.
STUBBS, F. J. (1920). Some Field Observations on Essex Reptiles and Amphibians. Essex Nat.,
19: 145-152.
WHEELER, A. C, MALENOIR, G. and DAVIDSON, J. (1959). A First Report on the Reptiles
and Amphibians in Epping Forest. Essex Nat., 30: 179-188.
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