Croatia island of Hvar september 2014

[Jeroen Speybroeck]

if you find ammodytes or ammonites

You really shouldn't drink so much, Martti.

[Martti Niskanen]

if you find ammodytes or ammonites

You really shouldn't drink so much, Martti.

Nah, It's saturday and a birthday party. Just found the use of "ammonites" amusing.

[Kriss Kaspersen]

Update from Hvar. Had two beautiful days with sun and a average temp of 24. Been out both mornings in the hills around Stari grad, in search of V.ammodytes and other reptiles. To my surprise lizards is almost non existing on this island. Exept for a couple of geckos crawling the walls of our hotel at night, a diurnal lizard i saw in a flash and believe to have been a Podarcis melisellensis, and I also heard something bigger trashing through some spiny bushes, might have been a Lacerta trilineata. But thats it! Been out on some of the smaller islands surrounding Hvar, and its a lot more reptilian life there. Just after stepping of the boat, i saw at least one species of wall lizard podarcis, and some young trilineatas hunting in the stone walls. I took the time to download and read the thesis "The small Indian mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus) on Adriatic Islands: impact, evolution, and control" done by croatian biologist Arijana Barun from 2011. And after reading this, it seems to me that the mongoose situation has taken a toll on the reptiles of Hvar. The first day on the island, I took the car for a long drive to look at habitats and search for DOR snakes and reptiles, as i usually do to get an idea on where to search. No lizards running a cross the warm roads as you usually see in this part of the world during summertime, and only one DOR snake, which i identified as a Hierophis gemonensis. I also saw a lot of dead cats on the road, and a couple of live ones hunting in the field. Cats is s you all know a devastating introduction on any island with smaller lifeforms, so this was not a very happy discovery.

Was planing a trip out in the field today, but was met by dark skies and a heavy rainstorm this morning, so hopefully some rain today will get Hvars elusive reptiles out of their hidings spots tomorrow if the weather dries up and the sun smiles again!

Anyways, Hvar is a beautiful island filled up with nice and friendly people, awesome food and crystal clear water, so can't complain and will definitely be back. But next time i will check out the islands Braĉ and Lastovo where the mongoose never was introduced.

Sorry i could not fit any pictures into this post, but i don't have any

Cheers
Kriss

[Berislav Horvatic]

You just had bad luck so far, don't blame Herpestes auropunctatus for everything...
There are a lot of reptiles on Hvar, still "untouched". So, push on (if you are still there)!

[Berislav Horvatic]

http://www.vipersgarden.at/PDF_files/PDF-1836.pdf
at the appendix (island code no. 10) you can see, which amphibian and reptile species
have been recorded on the island (dont believe on Blanus strauchi ), and which ones
are still missing.

Well, regarding this list, I would very much like to see a Podarcis siculus from Hvar.
I asked Werner & Martina some years ago, and they said no.

[Kriss Kaspersen]

Hi again! Sorry for the last and a little negative post. Managed to cut my big toe almost clean off on a sharp rock diving that day, so the mongoose got it all!! I´m back in Norway now but after my last post i went out again, this time in the lower parts of the island.

Started out from Hvar town around seven in the morning on Sunday. Saturday had thunder, lightning and heavy showers, but this day I was happy to once again feel the sun on my face and there wasn't a cloud on the sky. I parked my car close to a small forest i had seen the first day on Hvar, and it didn't take me long to find reptiles. The forest was alive, and the rock piles you see everywhere on Hvar, was crawling with Dalmatian wall lizards (Podarcis melisellensis) i got some nice pictures of them, before i suddenly heard a slithering noise in the grass behind me. A tail of what i think could have been a Balkan whip snake (Hierophis gemonensis) disappeared in a rock wall before i even managed to get up from my position.

After the unfortunate meeting with Hvar´s sharp and rocky coastline I would probably never have managed to catch it anyway. So after losing what i would have thought had been my only chance of a snake i got on those four days, I slowly walked back to the car. Suddenly I heard it!! A low hissing noise got my attention and i quickly turned my eyes to the direction of the noise fast enough to see a fat Vipera a.ammodytes uncoil itself on a rock! I quickly grabbed its tail to safely move it away from the pile of rocks it was trying to escape in. It was a healthy specimen, around 50 cm and just had a big fed! I didn't wanted the snake to regurgitate it, so i shot some quick pictures before i let it find shelter in the rocks i found it in!

Really happy to see that the snakes are thriving even in the lowlands of Hvar, and I'm pleased to have found one even on a none herping trip!

Will try to add some pictures later, just have to find out how i can make them smaller!

[Martti Niskanen]

Congrats on the find! Looking forward to the photos.

[Berislav Horvatic]

Really happy to see that the snakes are thriving even in the lowlands of Hvar,
and I'm pleased to have found one even on a none herping trip!

Like I said, like I said...
I'm so happy about your find. In a way, I felt as if you were my "representative" there.
I haven't been on Hvar for years, and I miss it very much.

[Kriss Kaspersen]

Vipera ammodytes ammodytes

IMG_1349.jpg (75.47 KiB) Viewed 5770 times

[Kriss Kaspersen]

Vipera ammodytes ammodytes

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