After finding a proper place for ambushing the prey, the Adder may wait for many hours for a chance to strike. It has one flaw, however — it affects the victim rather slowly, thus the prey will often die only a while after the attack and in these cases the Adder later finds the body and eats it.
Like most snakes, Puff Adders swallow the prey whole and after a larger animal has been caught, the digestion may take many days, during which the snake is relatively inactive. They are about 30 cm long and are completely independent upon birth and they soon start hunting. If confronted, the snake will most often attack instead of running, and as many people try to drive the snake away from their territories, these cases most often result in a snake bite that must be immediately treated.
Your email address will not be published. Skip to content. They then immediately release the prey so that it cannot bite back. The bitten prey wanders off, dies and the adder uses its sense of smell to find it. During warm spring days, male adders actively search for females by picking up pheromones in the air. They sometimes wrestle other males for the same female, slithering across the ground quickly. The males raise their bodies and intertwine with each other, a movement the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust calls "dance of the adders.
Black or European adders are ovoviviparous, said Savitzky. That means the eggs are fertilized and incubate inside the mother and she gives birth to live young. The gestation period is three to four months. Adders typically give birth to about 12 babies, which are independent soon after birth. The mother may stay with them for a few hours. Adder babies are about 7 inches The Forestry Commission of England describes them as perfect miniatures of adult snakes. They are sometimes born during hibernation, so they are born with excess fat stores to help them through their first winter.
Adders reach sexual maturity between 3 and 4 years of age. They can live for up to 15 years in the wild, according to the ADW.
According to the Forestry Commission of England, no one has died of an adder bite in Britain in more than 20 years. Though they are venomous, they are not aggressive, and when threatened only use their venom as a last resort. Humans are most likely to be bitten if they step on or try to pick up an adder. Adders "have relatively moderate venom, not highly lethal," said Savitzky.
They are, however, "unpleasant and could cause potentially serious medical issues. Though they are usually not lethal, that doesn't mean that they don't deserve treatment. Sometimes called African adders, puff adders Bitis arietans are members of the viper family. That is certainly true for the puff adder, which is more venomous and dangerous than its European relatives. Puff adders average about 3 feet 1 meter in length and have stout bodies.
They have light brown, gray, and black markings with a distinctive chevron pattern, according to the Sabi Sabi Game Reserve in South Africa. Their coloring makes for effective camouflage. Like most vipers, their heads have a triangular shape and are distinct from their necks.
Males are larger than females. Like other vipers, puff adders have hinged fangs through which venom is injected into prey. Puff adders are widespread throughout Africa, Savitzky said. They live in most of sub-Saharan Africa except the rainforests in west and central Africa.
Puff adders are found across the Red Sea in the southwest corner of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and in in the southwest corner of Oman. Puff adders primarily live in rocky savannahs, though they are found almost everywhere in Africa except deserts and rainforests. A primary reason they bite so many people is that they are highly adaptable snakes and often live in developed places, according to the Sabi Sabi Game Reserve. Puff adders are out both during the day and at night, though they are more active at night, according to Perry's Bridge Reptile Park in South Africa.
Because of their stocky bodies, they are relatively slow-moving snakes. They rely on their camouflage for protection rather than their ability to move quickly. Puff adders move in a straight line, like a caterpillar, rather than in the side-to-side slithering motion of most snakes. Puff adders are known for their aggressive temperament, though Savitzky says that might be overstated. Part of that reputation may come from the relative frequency of humans stepping on puff adders.
Because they are slow and heavily camouflaged, it is possible for people to unintentionally get close to the snakes and step on them. When threatened, puff adders inflate their upper bodies and hiss. Geography Continents.
Africa, Asia. Sub-Saharan Africa, Western Asia. Biome Temperate grasslands. Tropical savanna. Climate zones Tropical. Habits and Lifestyle Puff adders are solitary and nocturnal creatures.
Group name. Terrestrial, Ambush predator, Precocial. Seasonal behavior. Not a migrant. Diet and Nutrition Puff adders are carnivores. Diet Carnivore. Not evaluated NE. Population Population threats There are no major threats to Puff adders at present. Ecological niche Puff adders play are important predators in their ecosystem as they control populations of many prey species they feed on. References 1. Included in Lists Snakes of South Africa. Snakes of Tanzania. Snakes of Yemen. Reptiles of Namibia.
Related Animals Bamboo Pit Viper. Eyelash Viper. Water Moccasin. Gaboon Viper. Stejneger's Pit Viper.
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