Vipera berus..

[GeorgeSalt]

Having tried my Pentacon 200mm on my last snake-hunt and found it lacking both in reach and close-focussing ability, I reverted back to the trusty Sigma 70-300mm APO. I keep telling myself to sell this lens as it's generally unremarkable except in good light. But it does have a decent reach, and it does focus closely for it's focal length. And LR4 does wonders for noise reduction.



The adders have eluded my camera ever since I started looking for snakes in the local woods. They're just to shy, elusive and fast. I've seen them many times, but usually behind deep cover and disappearing out of view before I can get the camera raised. This one I almost overlooked next to the path. But it made the trip worthwhile, even if it was the only snake I spotted all morning. It completes my set of every species of reptile in the woods (adder, grass snake, slow worm, common lizard).

[mo]

Nice capture,Is it hard to find your subjects?

[Excalibur]

Nice clear shot...but I'd like to see adders eliminated at least from England because of the danger to small children. Years ago, when at the bottom of my garden was an open field, the common grass snakes used to like my compost heap and when turning the compost over would find eggs.....one year a snake was trying to swallow a large toad (back end first) and the toad didn't seem to care as it wasn't struggling and seemed to except its fate, but I thought a toad was more valuable in my garden for slugs etc so touched the snake and it let the toad go.

[parabellumfoto]

[Excalibur]

[GeorgeSalt]

[mo]

I would love to capture a snake...via the camera and long lens of course,unfortunately the snakes here are deadly so I don't tend to go looking for them...

I have been in Australia 20+ years and have seen only a handful of live snakes, most have been dead run over on the road.We have two of the most deadliest where I live, the eastern brown and the tiger snake,both aggressive.They grow quite large from the ones I have seen crossing the road.I hope to be able to capture one on camera eventually...as long as I see it first and it's not too close.My husband has handled these snakes twice...not by choice...both times he was reaching under a rock / long grass....thankfully he grabbed and released (quite quickly) the non dangerous end.

I personally would only kill a snake if it was directly around my house and a direct threat to my children (snakes are protected here), and only if I could do it safely without injury to myself.Having said that, thankfully there are snake handlers that you can ring and they will come and remove the snake.

Are the snakes (adders and grass snakes) native to England?,I don't know much about them over there.Have you got any other images you could post perhaps in the photographers cafe??

[GeorgeSalt]

The UK has three native snakes - the grass snake, the adder and the smooth snake. The last one is rare and not found locally. There are also lizards, including the slow worm and the common lizard. There are a couple of other lizards as well, but again not found locally. All reptiles are protected in the UK - it's illegal to kill, harm or trade them. Some species have greater protection (eg. smooth snake).

Might as well keep thing in one thread..

Grass snakes..





And there's a video here, www.flickr.com/photos/saltgeorge/8012305207/

[mo]

Excellent images what lens did you use,they must have been sunning themselves as the light looks very good.They are quite colorful I did not realize England has such a variety of native snakes.

My Pc is not the best when it comes to viewing flickr videos, but from what I saw you did a very good job capturing those snakes.

Thanks for sharing these,

In regards to a Manual lens being used for your snake hunting have you tried a Tamron 103A (80-210) it might not have the long reach but it does very well as an all round lens.I find it's light and easy to focus,I use it for taking rugby photos.

[GeorgeSalt]

Of the last three images, the middle one was using a Pentacon 200mm f/4 and the others were using a Sony HX20V compact.

The ideal lens would probably be between 200mm and 300mm, and must close focus. MFD needs to be around 4'. Not that I can always get that close, but it would be nice.

I have tried using the Pentacon 200mm with extension tubes to gain close-focussing at the expense of infinity focus, I'm still refining this and testing it around the garden.

[NikonD]

May I join?

[GeorgeSalt]

[NikonD]

The first one is Vipera aspis (or berus, really don't know), the second is Vipera ammodytes or modras as we call it
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vipera_ammodytes