Greenham and Crookham Common to feature in TV documentary

Disappearing Britain will feature Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis on the look out for dwindling adder population

GREENHAM and Crookham Common will feature in a TV documentary tomorrow evening (Thursday, October 22) focusing on some of natures rapidly declining reptilian wildlife.

Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis and the team from took part in the Wildlife Trust’s adder tracking project and visited West Berkshire in July with the area one of the few remaining strongholds in Berkshire for the snakes.

Viewers will be able to see how the Wildlife Trust’s Roger Stace and adder specialist Nigel Hand were able to coax an adder out of hiding on the common before being tagged.

Adders are the only venomous snake in Britain, having disappeared from large tracts of the British countryside however the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) is carrying out the adder tracking project to learn more about the movement of the snakes.

The snakes have a small ‘home range’ and use the same sites of hibernation and breeding each year.

It is hoped the project can identify if adders from one population meet and breed with adders from a different colony which would improve their chances of survival by increasing their genetic diversity.

Disappearing Britain will be shown tomorrow (Thursday, October 22) on More 4 at 9pm.