He is clearly passionate about adders, so I cannot be too harsh in my comments. But I have seen some of his other videos where he handles a grass snake as if it was a black mamba, so I guess he likes being in the media spot light and performing which I suppose is asking for negative comments...I guess I am too polite to criticise him ;-) 

He is a really nice guy, I like him, but I don't feel he commands a great deal of respect. Tailing Adders, I personally don't do it but if I did I wouldn't put it on youtube, there are a lot of younger people on youtube who copy what they see, unfortunately, not as well! I've seen videos with 12/13 year olds necking Adders saying: "We're doing this here because there are kids over there." Irony?

I'm not undermining what he is doing, he is doing a great thing but I think he should go down the David Attenborough route, looking but not touching. 

Well,I agree with you guys! I definitely like more the Atteborough approach!:) This man here does look more like he's showing off than telling people interesting stuff about adders! I mean..."their eyes are red"..Come on,is that the most interesing thing people than are not familiar with snakes should know!?...It's almost like - their numbers are declining..we should save them because of their red eyes and because they are velvet in touch!...Anyway,better rise some concern on TV about the issue,than saying nothing at all! So,I don't underestimate his work! 

Ben is one of our members, just for your information... :) 

>> Ben is one of our members, just for your information... :) <<
Who cares?
Doing a lot of movements in front of the adders nose, seems like "see how brave I am!".
But looking, how the adder is coiled on the branch, she couldn´t do any really strike movement - look exactly on her loops.

Mario
 

I agree Mario.
In the UK most people that work with Adders and their conservation are very much against handling them in anyway whatsoever. I myself have been guilty of getting over excited and catching an Adder for a few brief minutes for the sole purpose of photography. I have never felt this to cause any damage to them, as they must endure far greater stress over the course of their annual activity. Furthermore when I see the animal is getting upset I make sure to let it on its way. But when an Adder is captured and manipulated this is very different in my opinion, its almost like he is teasing them with his movements that I have seen on some of his other videos.
Of course we all handle animals in order to share their beauty through better photography, but there is a limit, I get the impression he is trying to make the Adder strike at him in order to show off.
Matt 

Hello Everyone,

Hope this finds you all well. Its decidedly 'boggy' in England today, although as its rather humid and warm for this time of year, there may be a few frogs and toads about tonight... we shall see.

I just wanted to join the conversation if I may?

I was surprised to see the video/link up here, but I am very grateful to Dan for sharing it further than YouTube. Thanks mate.

As I've said, I'm writing this in my wildlife art garage, the roof of which is being pelted with rain and it's a sad thought that that is probably that for reptiles this year in the UK, however I still get great excitement from reading and watching our scaled friends through whatever medium I can and my aim with the ITV piece was to portray some of that excitment, wonder and unexpectedness that I for one feel when finding a snake in the wild.

Thanks for everyone's interesting comments and if I may, I would like; not so much to defend anything in the report, but merely to explain a few points that I felt when I watched it back...many being the same as I've seen on here.

We set off to the reserve in Shropshire in the morning and as soon as we arrived I was mic-ed up and told to start talking to Becky as we walked through the woods prior to the bog. We filmed for about 25 minutes here, simply talking and re shooting takes - more often than not, due to the cameraman's un-nerving skill at falling over...

We then came out on to the lowland bog as seen in the clip. Again, I talked to camera about how rare and fragile this environment is in the UK and the multitude of different species that one can find there and how important it is to protect, conserve and fight to save this habitat - another 15 minutes. We walked on and soon came across our first and only Adder - wonderful I thought. The camera man was then asking me to pick it up - I asked him if he was mad - and then settled on supporting the beautiful female on a stick, which, as she was behaving so wonderfully, would not stress her out more than was necessary to demonstrate that these are by no means agressive snakes (as we all know here) and that they do not strike, or envenomate or gape or even struggle to get away. I thought if we could film that, then it was a great case for all the above and to allow people to make up their own minds, which I hoped in this case would result in the correct thought that...Adders are wonderful and beautiful and utterly disarming.

It also did not help that the camerman was asking me to get the Adder's attention towards the lens over my shoulder, hence providing some movement with my hand, but I would hope we could stop short at calling that 'goading' the reptile?

I briefly mentioned their past record of deaths, but clearly stated that this was solely due to anaphalactic shock, rather then the toxicity of the venom...as well as how to sex them, their sexual dichromatism, conservation status, life history, diet, hunting methods and colour variations, finishing off with...'and they've got really red eyes...' Before Becky chimed in, in her rather pathetic manner (sorry Becky!).

After releasing the snake, we chatted some more about the prey items found in the bog, such as the viviparous lizards and frogs, before calling it a day. We filmed for 2 hours 20 minutes and used 1.5hrs of film. The final 'cut' was 2 minutes and they didn't get my name right - I think that goes to show how quickly the editors have to work on daily rushes and perhaps...how insistent they are on making the worst out of any news, seeing as they only managed to include the 'death record' and the nervousness of their presenter... anyway, I am thankful for the oppertunity and for the slightly larger platform of ITV News to show off the wonderful Vipera berus.

As I said, I watched it back with a small tinge of anguish (and not about the name!) but I suppose it was a nice end note ... I had approached them to do a piece on wildlife art with snakes, so it was rather far-removed in the first place :)

Unlike some, I don't require fame on a daily basis to get my kicks (I'm happy in my garage with my paints) and I don't keep reptiles, I prefer to see them in the wild and when I do, I get very excited and perhaps as a result, I may ocassioanly seem reckless? If so, I apologise, but I really love our natural history. Long may the conservation and awareness-rasing of our herps continue.

I would love to hear everyone's comments 'good' or 'bad' and carry this conversation on.

Best,

Ben 

Well, I'm an animator,so I'm familiar with film making,camera men,editors,television, etc...and I know that some people sometimes can ruine a footage for no time and make it look completely different from the main idea,so I personaly believe you..and as I said I don't underestimate your work,so go on with it but may be next time work with another team or try a more "non-touching" approach! Don't you think that if you simply stay reasonably close to the adder,without provoking it..just talking about it,this will perfectly show how unagressive they are and that they don't jump on you and kill you just because you're passing by (as many people fear:))? 

Hi Ben & everyone

Now this is going to sound like I am having a go at Ben - to me I do not like the youtube videos which ben has posted - the grass snake wrestling vid was particularly depressing - which has been discussed elsewhere. This filmed piece for local television is typical of what TV want to see - adders are not aggressive and yet the myth needs to be perpetrated with unnecessary handling to provide the desired effect. Which is quite dangerous for other people to copy. Ben was this animal found during the summer?

I agree that the adder probably has declined over the last 50 to 60 years but we do not know to what extent and we do not have any real data for adder decline - we are trying to resolve this by recent projects from NARRS - add an adder and make the adder count both are very different surveys - one web based form filling the other targeted to experienced adder surveyors (which there are many across the UK).

Another point I would like to add is I would have identified the adder in the film as a male rather than a female - do put me right if this is not the case. The double edged sword of publicity and promoting conservation of adders in the UK is a difficult line to tread - often the desired piece from the committed conservationist is not what the TV crew and producers have in mind.

On the handling front we have a survey protocol which does not require handling of animals - this is so we can record adult numbers during the spring emergence - thus not affecting the population but also not drawing attention to the adders for members of the public who may also be using the same area. I have no problem with handling adders for particular purposes such as weighing, photography, identification etc. Tony Phelps in his studies rotated the populations which he studied so that he reduced the stress on any single population - I am certain that survey pressure can reduce adder numbers around hibernacula especially on small isolated populations.

I am very keen to encourage people on Euro herp to help with comparable count data on adders in the UK and the rest of Europe - I have been involved with the MTAC since 2005 and we have found some interesting results which may help provide data on their status locally, regionally, nationally and possibly over Europe.

Please do get in touch if you have adder count data over the spring emergence period (March to June).

regards

Jon