THE ADDER. 171 



carries, perhaps, more weight with the incredulous 

 than any other objection that has yet been mentioned, 

 and rightly so. But even supposing the adder-swallow- 

 ing theory to be true, it is by no means realised how 

 extremely difficult a matter it is to get this kind 

 of proof of it. In the first place, adders are not often 

 seen at all, even if looked for in places they are known 

 to frequent — that is, in comparison with the frequency 

 of most of our animals. They will always move away 

 quietly and quickly if they can ; and it is almost certain 

 that unless the searcher happens to go within 3 or 4 

 feet of an adder, the reptile will slip away unnoticed. 

 Still less common is it to see them with their young. 

 Secondly, if it be true that the young are swallowed, 

 this can only be supposed to occur when the family is 

 in its infancy — that is, for some days or perhaps weeks 

 after their birth. This would be, as a rule, towards 

 the end of September, varying, of course, with the date 

 of birth. As far as I have observed, the young do 

 not remain with the adder - mother very long after 

 birth, and it is a rare occurrence to meet the family 

 all together. But if they are quite young when the 

 adder-mother looks after them in this way, as they 

 must be, the only chance of being able to witness the 

 process is to come across the ivhole family at a fairly 

 definite and restricted, period in any given year. That 

 being so, it is fair to ask. How many people in England 

 and Scotland and Wales see an adder at all in any given 

 week or two in the year ? Certainly very few. Of 



