Tony Phelps / Puff Adder (Bitis arietans) juvenile male in defence posture, Little Karoo, South Africa

Tony Phelps / Puff Adder (Bitis arietans) juvenile male in defence posture, Little Karoo, South Africa

Steven David Miller / Aboriginal cave paintings at Death Adder art site, one of the Quinkan rock art sites, Jowalbinna, Cape York, Queensland, Australia Restrictions: Editorial use only

Steven David Miller / Aboriginal cave paintings at Death Adder art site, one of the Quinkan rock art sites, Jowalbinna, Cape York, Queensland, Australia Restrictions: Editorial use only

Steven David Miller / Aboriginal cave paintings at Death Adder art site, one of the Quinkan rock art sites, Jowalbinna, Cape York, Queensland, Australia Restrictions: Editorial use only

Steven David Miller / Aboriginal cave paintings at Death Adder art site, one of the Quinkan rock art sites, Jowalbinna, Cape York, Queensland, Australia Restrictions: Editorial use only

Tony Phelps / Southern adder (Bitis armata) adult female with tongue exposed, Dehoop nature reserve, South Africa.

Tony Phelps / Southern adder (Bitis armata) adult female with tongue exposed, Dehoop nature reserve, South Africa.

Tony Phelps / Southern Adder (Bitis armata) adult female amongst succulent vegetation, DeHoop Nature reserve, South Africa.

Tony Phelps / Puff adder (Bitis arietans) juvenile male, Little Karoo, South Africa

Piotr Naskrecki / Rhinoceros Adder (Bitis nasicornis) in leaf litter, Atewa Range, Ghana

Solvin Zankl / Peringueys sidewinding / Dwarf puff adder (Bitis peringueyi) buried in sand, Swakopmund, Namib Desert, Namibia

Solvin Zankl / Peringueys sidewinding / Dwarf puff adder (Bitis peringueyi) buried in sand, Swakopmund, Namib Desert, Namibia

Solvin Zankl / Peringueys sidewinding / Dwarf puff adder (Bitis peringueyi) on sand dune, Swakopmund, Namib Desert, Namibia

Solvin Zankl / Horned Adder (Bitis caudalis) Namib Desert, Namibia

Solvin Zankl / Peringueys sidewinding / Dwarf puff adder (Bitis peringueyi) buried in sand, Swakopmund, Namib Desert, Namibia

Solvin Zankl / Peringueys sidewinding / Dwarf puff adder (Bitis peringueyi) Swakopmund, Namib Desert, Namibia

Robert Valentic / Rugose Death Adder (Acanthophis rugosus) adult female watches and waits to lure prey to its grub-like tail tip, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

Robert Valentic / Northern death adder {Acanthophis praelongus} male luring prey by wriggling its tail tip, Weipa, Queensland, Australia

Robert Valentic / Pilbara death adder {Acanthophis wellsi} male camouflaged on soil, Karratha, Western Australia

Robert Valentic / Southern death adder {Acanthophis antarcticus} adult female watches and waits to lure prey to its grub-like tail tip, Eucla, Western Australia

Robert Valentic / Rugose Death Adder (Acanthophis rugosus) adult female lures prey to its grub-like tail tip, Cape Crawford, Northern Territory, Australia

Solvin Zankl / Dwarf puff / Peringueys Sidewinding Adder (Bitis peringueyi) feeding on lizard prey, Namib desert, Namibia

Solvin Zankl / Dwarf puff adder / Peringueys Sidewinding Adder (Bitis peringueyi) camouflaged on sand of Namib desert, Namibia

Solvin Zankl / Dwarf puff / Peringueys Sidewinding Adder (Bitis peringueyi) with lizard prey, Namib desert, Namibia

Tony Phelps / Puff adder {Bitis arietans} portrait, Little Karoo, South Africa

Tony Phelps / Horned adder {Bitis caudalis} hidden amongst lose stones, Great Karoo, South Africa.

Paul Hobson / Adder (Vipera berus) Derbyshire, UK

Paul Hobson / Adder (Vipera berus) drinking at pond, Derbyshire, UK

Paul Hobson / Adder (Vipera berus) Derbyshire, UK

Paul Hobson / Adder (Vipera berus) at drinking pond, Derbyshire, UK

Paul Hobson / Adder (Vipera berus) Peak District, UK

Paul Hobson / Adder (Vipera berus) basking on moorland, Peak District, UK

Jane Burton / Puff adder {Bitis arietans} scenting out its prey, a Grass rat, after striking it, captive, sequence 1/5

Jane Burton / Puff adder {Bitis arietans} swallowing its prey, a Grass rat, captive, sequence 3/5

Colin Varndell / Adder {Vipera berus} basking on fallen log, UK

Jane Burton / Puff adder {Bitis arietans} about to swallow its prey, a Grass rat, captive, sequence 2/5

Jane Burton / Puff adder {Bitis arietans} swallowing its prey, a Grass rat, captive, sequence 5/5

Jane Burton / Puff adder {Bitis arietans} swallowing its prey, a Grass rat, captive, sequence 4/5

Tony Phelps / Adder (Vipera berus) male freshly moulted, Dorset, UK, April 2008

Tony Phelps / Adder (Vipera berus) melanistic male on grass, Surrey, UK, April 2008

Tony Phelps / Adder (Vipera berus) melanistic male on grass, Surrey, UK, April 2008

Tony Phelps / Adder (Vipera berus) melanistic male, Surrey UK, April 2008

Tony Phelps / Photographer Tony Phelps lying down watching female adder (Vipera berus), Purbeck, Dorset, UK, April 2008

Tony Phelps / Shed skin of male adder (Vipera berus) on branch.

Inaki Relanzon / Adder / Common Viper, black morph (Vipera berus) Hornborgasjön Lake, Sweden.

Inaki Relanzon / Adder / Common Viper, black morph (Vipera berus) Hornborgasjön Lake, Sweden.

Robert Valentic / Close up of everted hemipene (bi-lobed male reproductive organ) of Northern death adder {Acanthophis praelongus} Northern Territory, Australia

Robert Valentic / Pilbara death adder {Acanthophis wellsi} black headed form in ambush position, Western Australia

Robert Valentic / Robert Valentic's swollen finger one week after being bitten by the Northern death adder {Acanthophis praelongus} Australia

Robert Valentic / Pilbara death adder {Acanthophis wellsei / wellsi} female wating for prey, tail lure at the ready, Western Australia

Robert Valentic / Death adder {Acanthophis sp} female Ceram, Indonesia

Robert Valentic / Death adder {Acanthophis antarcticus} close up of caudal lure on tail of female, Middleback ranges, South Australia

Robert Valentic / Rugose Death Adder (Acanthophis rugosus) female giving birth, live neonatal babies break out of their amniotic sacs, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

Robert Valentic / Barkly death adder {Acanthophis hawkei} female wriggling the tip of its tail (caudal lure) to mimic a grub or worm to attract a lizard within strike range, Northern Territory, Australia

Robert Valentic / Desert death adder {Acanthophis pyrrhus} juvenile female camouflaged against red soil, Northern Territory, Australia

Robert Valentic / Rugose Death Adder (Acanthophis rugosus) male wriggling the tip of its tail (caudal lure) to mimic a grub or worm to attract a lizard within strike range, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

Tony Phelps / Cape mountain adder {Bitis atropos} xanthic male, partly coiled on ground, Western Cape, South Africa

Tony Phelps / Researcher weighing Adder {Vipera berus} Purbeck, Dorset, UK

Martin Gabriel / Horned adder {Bitis caudalis} camouflaged against rocks. Namib-Naukluft NP, Namib desert, Namibia

Steve Knell / Adder (Vipera berus) coiled on rock, showing diamond pattern, UK

Steve Knell / Adder (Vipera berus) coiled on rock, UK

Tony Phelps / Horned adder {Bitis caudalis} 'cratered' in gravel stones, Great Karoo, South Africa

Tony Phelps / Shed skin of Red adder {Bitis rubida} Little Karoo, South Africa

Tony Phelps / Horned adder {Bitis caudalis} 'cratered' in gravel stones, Great Karoo, South Africa

Tony Phelps / Obese dwarf adder {Bitis sp} captive, Cape Town, South Africa

Adrian Davies / Adder (Vipera berus) warning sign, Slapton Ley National Nature Reserve, Devon, UK

Tony Phelps / Extracting blood from Puff adder {Bitis arietans} for mitochondrial DNA analysis, Oudtshoorn, Little Karoo, South Africa.

Tony Phelps / Researchers extracting blood from Puff adder {Bitis arietans} for mitochondrial DNA analysis, Oudtshoorn, Little Karoo, South Africa.

Tony Phelps / Threat to habitat of Albany adder {Bitis albanica} from cement mining operations, Grassy Ridge, nr Port Elizabth, South Africa.

Tony Phelps / Albany adder {Bitis albanica} Grassy Ridge, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Tony Phelps / Horned adder {Bitis caudalis} 'cratered' in ambush mode in gravel plain habitat, Beaufort, West Great Karoo, South Africa

Tony Phelps / Researcher handling Albany adder {Bitis albanica} Grassy Ridge, nt Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Thomas Marent / Common European Adder (Vipera berus) female, Switzerland

Geoff Simpson / Adder {Vipera berus} male in threat posture. Eastern moor, Peak district NP, UK.

Jane Burton / European Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) raises its prickles at warning hiss from Adder (Vipera berus) captive, UK

Paul Hobson / Male adder (Vipera berus) tongue out, scenting, spring. Peak District NP, UK

Paul Hobson / Male adder (Vipera berus) head up, spring. Peak District NP, UK

Paul Hobson / Male adder (Vipera berus) with forked tongue out, scenting. Peak District NP, UK, spring

Paul Hobson / Male adder (Vipera berus) with forked tongue out, scenting. Peak District NP, UK, spring

Tony Phelps / Tony Phelps handling and examining a Puff adder {Bitis arietans} in safety using a snake tube. Little karoo, South Africa

Tony Phelps / Puff adder {Bitis arietans} feeding on mouse, Little Karoo, South Africa

Tony Phelps / Puff adder {Bitis arietans} feeding on mouse, Little Karoo, South Africa

Adrian Davies / Adder {Vipera berus} male, spring, England.

Adrian Davies / Adder {Vipera berus} male, spring, England.

Adrian Davies / Adders {Vipera berus} male and a female, spring, England.

Adrian Davies / Adders {Vipera berus} male and a female, spring, England.

Andy Sands / Adder (Vipera berus) Male basking in spring, West Sussex, UK April

Andy Sands / Adder (Vipera berus) Male basking on log in spring, West Sussex, UK April

John Cancalosi / Two Male Adders {Vipera berus} sunning, UK

Tony Phelps / Adder snake giving birth {Vipera berus} Dorset, UK

Mark Moffett / Horned Viper (Cerastes cerastes) in desert, Hazeva, Israel

Tony Phelps / Puff adder {Bitis arietan} lying on logpile, Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa.

Tony Phelps / Puff Adder {Bitis arietans} head profile, lying on logpile, Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa.

Tony Phelps / Puff adder {Bitis arietans} killed during controlled fires, DeHoop NR, Western Cape, South Africa.

Tony Phelps / Southern adder {Bitis armata} juvenile male on yellow flowers, DeHoop NR, Western Cape, South Africa