An entirely black adder was spotted on a beach in Anglesey. The sighting has provoked a warning to pet owners to take care of their animals.

Adders are active on beaches around Wales from spring until October when they go into hibernation and are most commonly found in sand dunes, hillsides, moors and woodland. Bites are most commonly reported between April and June after the winter hibernation ends.

Black adders are not a different species but have developed the unusual colouring through a rare over-production of the skin pigment melanin. Normally adders have the distinctive zig-zag patterning down the spine.

There was a black adder at one of the sites that I am involved with last year. I was not able to get a photo though. It may show up again this year though.