Herptiles - the Reptiles and Amphibians of Buxton Heath
These photographs were taken at Buxton Heath on 12th April 2003 and show two male adders engaged in what's known as "The Dance of the Adders". It's actually a form of ritual combat, a trial of strength to decide which one wins the territory, and, of course, the females!
No injuries result from this activity, and the loser slinks off into the undergrowth with his tail firmly between his "non-existant" legs!
On another occasion, along the northern track at Buxton Heath, we witnessed a similar situation, but those two males were using so much power that, at one point, they "flew" apart with such force that they barrel-rolled, over and over.
Then they returned, re-entwined, and continued the ritual.
We noticed a Grass Snake working its way through the Buxton Heath valley mire on 12th July 2003, and I moved in to capture it on film. As I approached, it suddenly reared up in a cobra-like posture, before continuing on its way. I'm not sure if this was a threatening gesture, or if it was merely trying to find its escape route. Either way, it gave an unusual and more interesting view.
Although snake-like, Slow-worms are actually legless lizards, and move quite fast when they wish to escape predators or inquisitive naturalists!
This lovely bronze example was photographed by Nora Tam at Buxton Heath on Sat. 21st October 2006.
Common Frogs are quite plentiful in the Buxton Heath valley mire, and we've often found spawn deposits there, even in quite shallow patches of open water.
