When I say radio tracking, most people imagine searching for the African Big Five, driving around in Landrovers and following lions on a hunt. Well, technology has come a long way since the days of the BBC's Big Cat Diary, and we are fortunate enough to be part of the world of reptile tracking right here in Berkshire.

BBOWT is collaborating with Nigel Hand, an expert in the field of adder tracking and trustee of ARG UK (Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK), to monitor the population of adders on our heathland reserves in Berkshire.

The lowland heath in parts of Berkshire is perfect habitat for these sun loving creatures and, with Nigel’s help, we hope to shed light on the adders' behaviour, and glean information on population size and distribution. 

Adders in the UK have suffered huge losses over the years and, like many of their reptilian cousins, the absence of proper protection and mitigation has seen their numbers decline further due to habitat loss, fragmentation, disturbance, and predation.

What we hope to gain from our survey work over coming years is to build up a picture of our adder population, look for density hotspots, and be able to identify individuals. This data will help us understand the adders' behaviour and, in turn, support the wider population.

Survey work is conducted in the summer after the adders have had a chance to emerge from their winter hibernation, warm up and shed their old, dull skins and prepare for mating. It is now that the trained professionals come in to carefully attach a small radio tracker to the lower flank of the snake.

We take some measurements (length, weight, sex), take photographs and record the adder's new individual ID frequency. Then the snakes  are released where we found them and tracked over the course of a few months. Each radio tracker sends out a unique signal which we can pick up with some fancy technology and a bit of adder intuition, you must think like an adder! Males tend to roam further than females making them harder to triangulate with our equipment. 

If you are lucky to see any adders while out on our reserves we ask you to give them plenty of space. These animals are venomous, and while they are not aggressive, they are susceptible to disturbance and need plenty of time to sunbath in peace.

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