almost extinct in Oxfordshire although it is possible that there are a few in the wooded southern slopes of the Chilterns.

This magnificent creature, characteristically marked in a dark- and light-coloured zigzag pattern, may never be seen living in its native habitats by the vast majority of people living in Oxfordshire. That is a shocking comment on the state of the once familiar wildlife in our countryside.

The adder is one of several British wildlife species to feature in a new BBC One television series, Britain’s Big Wildlife Revival, which started last Sunday afternoon with a programme about woodland species under threat. BBOWT, the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, is running a genetic testing project with adders on Greenham Common in west Berkshire, and our resident expert Neil Clennell, Head of Conservation and Education in Oxfordshire, guided the programme makers to known adder sites in the wooded areas around the common.

Naturalist Nick Baker was able to handle an adder as he interviewed Faye Willman, from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), while she monitored the snake.

Mr Clennell has many years of experience handling reptiles and is passionate about the need to bring adders back into the countryside.

He said: “The adder is an iconic animal and part of British folklore, but over the last few decades, the number and size of breeding populations has dropped dramatically. “This is caused by the loss and fragmentation of habitats, many of which have made way for development or intensive agriculture. The increased numbers of pheasants roaming woodlands may also have introduced an effective new predator to the woodland edges where adders live.”

Last year, BBOWT set up a project with Natural England, the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation and the ZSL to research the status of adders across our three counties. “There’s some evidence from the continent that if breeding populations of adders become so isolated from each other, the genetic diversity is reduced and can lead to extinction,” explains Neil.

“We wanted to see if this was the case among the adders on BBOWT reserves. During last summer, and again this year, we’ve been catching adders to monitor them, and swab them for their DNA before releasing them unharmed. “The data that we’re collecting is analysed by geneticists at ZSL, and will help to build up a picture of the health of these adder populations so that we can plan for their recovery.”

Adders will give birth to their young at this time of the year and BBOWT will keep a close eye on adder locations at its reserves.

“At our Warburg Nature Reserve in the Chilterns the declining population has been a cause for concern for some time,” said Neil. “There have been very few sightings this summer and the few snakes we have left on the reserve are possibly the last we will see in Oxfordshire.”

Adders are venomous but rarely bite people. They are shy and usually disappear into undergrowth when they sense people approaching.

Seeing an adder close up is a privilege, and one that I enjoyed when we were helping the programme makers in April. The skin was a bronze and dark brown zigzag pattern on the top of the snake so it would blend easily with the bracken. It is common for adders to have different colour variations and entirely ‘black adders’ are not unknown.