News: No Adders

Well after a hastily eaten breakfast we sneaked down to the Shapwick Heath nature reserve early this morning to try to see an adder warming up in the morning sunshine. After much family discussion about what we would do if the adder spat poison at us or rushed up our trouser legs, and other such possibilities, we made our way from the parked van down to the place where they might be. 'Almost' like a Somerset episode of the excellent 'Deadly 60' we tiptoed to the concrete hard standing where the compost heaps were, aware that adders can feel you approaching. As stealthily as is possible, with excited 3, 6, 9 and 11 year old children, we arrived at the heaps of straw and mud carefully looking for basking adders but they were long gone or possibly not even up yet as the sun was largely absent this morning. We continued along the path to have a peek for otters but it was all calm and still with nothing about so we set off back home again to wait for a sunnier morning. Sometimes the anticipation alone is worth the little adventures, even if you don't see the things you set out to find, knowing they might be there is in itself exciting and I'm confident we should see one in due course.