According to the paperwork, Scoop is one year old today. To celebrate, I took her for a morning’s fox walk along the south march of the farm, but what with the showers last night, the rushes looked rather wet and uninviting. If I were a fox, I would have chosen somewhere drier to lie up for the day, so it’s not surprising that we didn’t put anything up. We found a roe doe, and I spotted an adder coiled up in a ball about the size of a grapefruit. It was one of the grey/black ones, rather than the light brown/dark brown ones, and it looked very smart on a bed of wine red sphagnum moss. I’ve got a copy of Rodger McPhail’s book on adders somewhere, and I really must find out what the difference between the colours is.
Scoop has certainly come on a long way since we got her in October last year, and I was bit miffed to find that she was still full of beans after our two hour, six mile slog through the grass on the low ground. Sadly, the more I make her work, the more she demands to be worked. She’s now a 22Kg slab of fit, relentless muscle, and it’s all my fault…
Bog Myrtle & Peat 
On horrible wet days you will get them in holes, need to get yourself a terrier. or shrink the lab.
Are you mad? 1600 acres of rough hillside, with blanket forestry on 3 sides and a terrier. If he’s lucky he’ll only go bald from the stress. .LOL
Hi Patrick,
The adder you saw on your walk was a male. Females are usually various shades of brown. Males tend to be a lot ligher in colouration and I’ve seen them in various shades of grey/lightish blue.