Vipera Berus pic

[roeskva]

Vipera berus is the common European adder or common European viper. This picture was taken by Jonas Arvidsson - a member of our local herpetology society, and I thought people would enjoy it here. It's a real photo, not a manip - the adders come out of hibernation while there are still snow on the ground (in Umeå, in late March), and in sunny weather they crawl through the snow to find rocks they can sun themselves on. They live as far north as at least 150 kilometer north of the polar circle (where the adders are twice the size of what they are further south!)