Join the Reptile and Amphibian Group for Somerset (RAGS) for a training session to help survey adders in the Blackdown Hills this spring. This workshop is for volunteers to learn how to survey adders and help monitor their distribution in the northern Blackdown Hills.

This workshop is for people who want to volunteer after the training. You’ll help survey grazing sites in the Neroche area and record where adders are found, building a clearer picture of their distribution in the Blackdown Hills. Surveys will run until 31 May and require multiple visits to the sites. Adder activity depends on the weather, so flexibility and short-notice availability are a big advantage.

The Blackdown Healthy Living and Activity Centre, where the training is being held, is an accessible venue however due to the location and nature of the sites to be surveyed, a good level of fitness is required and the ability to navigate mud, stiles, hills and unmade tracks. You will need your own transport, although we could help with arranging lifts.

We ask volunteer groups to make a minimum of three survey visits to their site (although the more the merrier) before the end of the survey at the end of May. The length of each visit will depend on how many of the group are out on the day, but will most likely be a couple of hours each time.

Booking is required – book your place.
For further information email John Dickson at jdickson61@aol.com.