Bulgaria - Cherepish Monastery

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Bulgaria - Cherepish Monastery

Postby Ilian Velikov » Tue Aug 25, 2009 11:18 am

Hello,

This weekend we went to the Cherepish Monastery in the western Stara Planina Mts. The monastery is situated in the gorge of the Iskar river. The area is very nice,there's huge rock faces,forests and meadows. Perfect habitat for reptiles and amphibians!:) I was hoping to find some nose-horned vipers,because there's a lot of them in that place! Sadly.I didn't find any snakes! :( I must be the herper with worst luck ever! :oops: Anyway, lizards were everwhere! Lots of P.muralis and some L.viridis. Here are some photos:

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I saw this guy carring a earthworm. First I thought it has just cought it,but than I saw the worm was dried up,which means it was dead before the lizard got it! If P.muralis scavange on dead worm meat, do you think they could also scavange on other dead animals! Does anyone knows of any info on scavaging wall lizards?

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Some Lacerta viridis:

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I also found this open manhole with 14 P.ridibundus and 2 R.dalmatina trapped in it! They must've been there for a long time,because they were in a very poor condition! Especially the agile frogs...a bit more than bones and skin was left from them. The marsh frogs were slightly better, probbably because they've eaten some of the other frogs that fell into the hole! I took all the frogs out! I hope they'll have strenght left to find food for themselves!

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Thanks for looking!
Ilian
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Re: Bulgaria - Cherepish Monastery

Postby Vlad Cioflec » Tue Aug 25, 2009 11:36 am

Hi Ilian,

Don`t be upset about the snakes. What you did with the frogs was more important. And i just know good things will come your way. After every rescue mission, on the very next herptrip i get to see a cool critter, be it herp, bird, or mammal. It`s gotta be karma. ;)

Now that i`ve read your post i`m thinking about checking some of the problematic manholes close to Bucharest right next weekend, and keep my fingers crossed for the first herptrip of the autumn, which might take place just south of the Danube again. :D

Cheers!
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Re: Bulgaria - Cherepish Monastery

Postby Ilian Velikov » Tue Aug 25, 2009 12:55 pm

Haha,hope you're right,Vlad! We'll see the next trip!

Good luck to you and let me know where you going,south of the Danube..and if you need any help or info..anything!

Best regards
Ilian
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Re: Bulgaria - Cherepish Monastery

Postby Jürgen Gebhart » Tue Aug 25, 2009 4:00 pm

No snake, No problem! The area looks pretty good, next time you will find some! I keep my fingers cross!!!

Good doku about the Lizard and the dry worm.One time I saw a wall lizard eating a dry wasp.

I never saw a skinny dalmatina like this before, good that you help them out of there "no way out" situation!!!
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Re: Bulgaria - Cherepish Monastery

Postby Ilian Velikov » Wed Aug 26, 2009 7:59 am

Thanks,Jurgen for the nice comment! :) Interesting stuff,about the "eating dead animals" behavior in wall lizards! I've never seen skinny frogs like this before,too...they almost didn't try to escape when I cought them! The dalmatina could barely move!
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Re: Bulgaria - Cherepish Monastery

Postby Wolfram Schurig » Sun Aug 30, 2009 10:21 pm

Yeah! I have seen wall lizards eating dry stuff several times - dry worms and dead bees and wasps, too! They seem to be very opportunistic in their diet! I'll checkk if I have some pics (..at least I remember one..)
wolfram
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Re: Bulgaria - Cherepish Monastery

Postby Ilian Velikov » Mon Aug 31, 2009 9:15 am

Wolfram, it would be nice if you can find the photos..I'll be glad to see them! I can't find any articles on P.muralis diet on the net..but yaeh,they seem to be very opportunistic! I wonder if they also take vegetation of some kind or fruites,maybe..although I haven't read or seen anything like this!?
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Re: Bulgaria - Cherepish Monastery

Postby Wolfram Schurig » Mon Aug 31, 2009 12:56 pm

Hi Ilian!

I think there are some articles in german - let me check this. An here is the pic (old scan from dia... :roll: )
muralis_mit biene.jpg


Regards!
Wolfram
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Re: Bulgaria - Cherepish Monastery

Postby Ilian Velikov » Mon Aug 31, 2009 3:15 pm

Hi Wolfram,

Very nice shot! :D Are you sure the bee was dead when the lizard got it? And I appreciate your interest and help in finding an article..but if it's in german..I can't understand anything! Thanks anyway!
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