Below is a link is to a sequence of shots showing Britain’s only venomous snake the male Adder going through it’s mating Ceremony I captured these shots over a week, in early April at one of the few sites around London.

Mating occurs from middle April and the first half of May. Males are territorial at this time.

A ritualised trial of strength between two males,( I was lucky enough to have captured three of them on video)
involving a sinuous intertwining and pushing against each other.

Occasionally they may be seen to duel or "dance" as a show of strength the victor will go straight off and entice his lady friend into a day of mating.
Here is the link to a 4-minute video that shows these sequence of events.

Three Male Adders (http://web.me.com/wildlifeonline/Site/Three_Male_Adders.html)

Ron,

Amazes me that you can actually go out and find them and then be fortunate enough to get them in mating action on top of it!!! Is this the same group you filmed last year? Seems you posted a bit of adder footage last year.

Great stuff!!

Hi Dale

I didn’t film any snakes last spring, The film you mention was by Matt Thomson “The Heath” he did for a UWOL competition, this film had some sequences of Adders in his entry, which won that round.

Finding the Adders wasn’t a problem; It was waiting for them to get into the mood for love.
I spent 5 days going to the one local natural reserve that have these snakes to get the shots I wanted, I’ve got hours of footage of them basking in the morning sun, but on the fourth day they really started to move and chase each other.
This would have fitted into the Order and/or Chaos brief we have now.
(Haven't a clue on this one yet)