25 September β 9 October
the coastal calendar, shifted 24 days later for this region
Mountain clearings, bilberry and forest edge, on stones in the morning sun; higher and colder ground than any other snake here.
The snake that replaces the nose-horned viper once you climb past the beech line, and the most cold-adapted snake in Europe β it reaches the Arctic Circle. Females breed only every second or third year, because a mountain summer is barely long enough to carry a litter, so a local population recovers from losses very slowly.
photos, sightings and recordings, off this site
where this species is on the list
| Phase | When | Length | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| wintering in cover | 10 October β 31 March | 173 days | Reptile dormancy β sluggish rather than truly asleep, and broken by warm spells. |
| going about the year | 1 April β 24 April | 24 days | Feeding, holding territory, doing nothing the calendar singles out. |
| courting | 25 April β 29 May | 35 days | Song, display, fighting, scent-marking β pairs forming or reaffirming. |
| pregnant | 30 May β 24 August | 87 days | Pregnant. Nothing to see from outside, which is why the dates matter. |
| raising young | 25 August β 24 September | 31 days | Dependent young in the nest, den or burrow, being fed. Born live, in a cold climate where eggs left in the ground would never develop. |
| young dispersing | 25 September β 9 October | 15 days | Young leaving for good, looking for a territory of their own. |