Vol. 78 2026

ARTICLES

Scavenging Behaviour By a Free-ranging Balkan Adder Vipera berus bosniensis (Boettger 1889)

Angel Dyugmedzhiev1,*& Irina Lazarkevich2

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*,1Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2 Gagarin Street, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria; E-mail: angeldiugmedjiev@gmail.com
2The Stephan Angeloff Institute of Microbiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad. Georgi Bonchev Str., Bl. 26, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria; E-mail: irinalazarkevich@abv.bg

https://doi.org/10.71424/azb78.3.003124

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Abstract

Scavenging is an opportunistic feeding strategy in snakes, which benefits far exceed its associated costs, as carrion provides a safe and relatively easy-to-obtain food source, compared to live prey. In this paper, the authors report on an observation of scavenging feeding by a free-ranging Vipera berus bosniensis. On 01 September 2025, an adult female was found to ingest a dead Clethrionomys glareolus. The vole’s carcass had visible lacerations on both the anterior and posterior sides, indicating that it was not killed by the viper, but by another predator. Such a feeding strategy has rarely been reported in Old World vipers, in contrast to pitvipers, where it appears to be more common. However, as traditional methods for studying snakes’ diets are unreliable to evaluate the frequency of scavenging feeding, this type of behaviour could be highly underestimated.

Key words

Diet, ecology, prey, snakes, Viperidae

How to Cite
Dyugmedzhiev A. & Lazarkevich I. 2026. Scavenging Behaviour By a Free-ranging Balkan Adder Vipera berus bosniensis (Boettger 1889). Acta zoologica bulgarica 78.

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