Are adders dangerous?

The adder (Vipera berus) is Britain’s only venomous snake. They have evolved the ability to produce venom in order to help them catch prey such as small mammals, amphibians, and other reptiles.

It is very rare for an adder to bite a person – they are shy and want to be left alone. Generally, bites occur when people accidentally step on adders, or try to pick them up.

An estimated 50-100 bites are reported in Britain each year, but only 14 people have died from an adder bite since 1876 (that means only about 0.01 – 0.2% of all bites in the last 148 years were fatal).

Adder bites are potentially serious, but effective treatment is widely available for people and pets. If you are bitten, please immediately seek medical attention.

Will they attack me, my family, or our pets?

Keeping dogs on leads in places where adders might be present is a great way to keep our pets safe and protect adders. Adder bites are potentially serious, but effective treatment is widely available for people and pets. If you or your pets are bitten, please immediately seek medical attention. Wildlife needs to be protected and it thrives when there is minimal disturbance by people and their pets. Use the countryside responsibly. Wear suitable footwear, keep to paths, watch where you step, and keep dogs on leads at all times.

Why should we protect them?

Adders are a threatened species, categorised as ‘vulnerable to extinction’ in England by Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC) in 2011 . This is primarily due to changes in land use, disturbance by people and pets, and persecution by those who fear or misunderstand these beautiful creatures.
A recent study – ‘Make the Adder Count’ (Gardner et al. 2019), which monitored 260 adder sites across the UK, suggested that small adder populations could all be extinct by 2032.

Adders are an important part of our ecosystem, being both a predator and natural prey item of many other species. They are wonderful and interesting animals, which represent an important piece of an intricate food-web. Each time we lose a species, our ecosystem becomes more vulnerable and un-balanced. Their loss within our lifetime would surely be a tragedy.

What should I do if I see an adder?

If you see an adder, please move back to a safe distance and try not to disturb it. Generally, they will move away as soon as they sense people are nearby. Adders ‘hear’ using vibrations not noise, so they will sense your footsteps.

Give the animal a wide berth and consider yourself lucky to have seen this wonderful creature – adders are becoming increasingly rare! Do not try to move an adder off a footpath, or ‘shoo’ it away.

Tell us about it

We would love to hear about your adder sightings. Getting a better understanding of how adders are distributed across the North Pennines will help us in our efforts to conserve them. Please submit your records via https://irecord.org.uk/, or by email to henry@northpennines.org.uk. Make sure you include your name, the date, and a GPS or What3Words location. You do not need to take a photograph in order to submit the record – we would much rather you keep your distance.