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Together with a Swiss friend I spent five days of the Holy Week on Mallorca. There were masses of cyclists and hikers present on this popular island, very contrary to the number of lizards. The weather was sunny and comfortably warm throughout our stay. Main reason for the journey was to find the endemic herp species.



Hard to believe if you don't see it by yourself: Mallorca offers ample of seemingly perfect reptile habitat without a single lizard. Crazy.



The only reptile we saw on a regular basis was Moorish gecko (Tarentola mauritanica).



A common sight on Mallorca. Private property seems to be very well protected. Long live the freedom of movement!



The boat that brought us to Sa Dragonera island.



The beauty of spring. Mostly Anthemis tinctoria, as I was told.



Lilford's wall lizard (Podarcis lilfordi) is incredibly common on Sa Dragonera. There must be thousands and thousands of them! Also a few Moorish geckos were observed.



Sa Dragonera cliffs offering nice views.



Lots of lizards, lots of Yellow-legged gulls (Larus michahellis).



Nest of Larus michahellis.



Brachycerus barbarus, a strange weevil, was encountered several times.



Next, we hoped to see Mallorcan midwife toad in the mountains. I think that it was due to the very dry conditions that we didn't find it here.



But nevertheless, the quite long hike wasn't in vain as we encountered Algerian false smooth snake (Macroprotodon cucullatus) taking the last sunrays of the day. It was found in the Pine forest shown above.



Macroprotodon cucullatus closeup.



Euscorpius balearicus



View from our hotel in Port de Sóller.


The next day we went to another place in the mountains and this time, luck was on our side!



Mallorcan midwife toad (Alytes muletensis)



The same animal. I don't provide habitat pictures to protect the location.



Puig major (1445 m), the highest point of the balearic islands.



The ancient road to the monastery of Lluc.



Dead horse arum lily (Helicodiceros muscivorus) is native to Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearic Islands. It smells like a rotting horse in order to attract blow flies. But I didn't smell anything.



Common, but beautiful: Papilio machaon.



During our only serach in the dark near Port de Pollença, we saw Moorish Gecko and Mediterranean house gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus).



Port of Cala Rajada, home of a population of the introduced…



…Ibiza wall lizard (Podarcis pityusensis).



Later I spotted this abandoned house that wasn't surrounded by a high fence for once.



We quickly caught Horseshoe whip snake (Hemorrhois hippocrepis), a species that has recently been introduced to Mallorca. I know we probably should have killed it, but we didn't have the heart to do so. Therefore we set it free where it was found. The population seems to be already too widespread to eradicate it from the island.



An unfortunate Horseshoe whip snake a few kilometers away.



Another subspecies of Lilford's wall lizard (Podarcis lilfordi) from near Colònia de Sant Jordi.



Some clouds on the final day in the vicinity of Porreres.



Only Hermann's tortoise (Testudo hermanni) was found here.



Sightseeing in Palma to end the nice and successful journey.



All in all it was a very pleasant and successful short trip to a quite overcrowded island.


List of observed species:
- Majorcan Midwife Toad (Alytes muletensis)
- Iberian Water Frog (Pelophylax perezi) calls heard
- Hermann's Tortoise (Testudo hermanni)
- Moorish Gecko (Tarentola mauritanica)
- Turkish Gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus)
- Lilford's Wall Lizard (Podarcis lilfordi)
- Ibiza Wall Lizard (Podarcis pityusensis)
- Algerian false smooth snake (Macroprotodon cucullatus)
- Horseshoe whip snake (Hemorrhois hippocrepis )

Nice report aboout a island with to less snakes Thomas

But both snakes are looking fine, especially the Macroprotodon has a beautiful face.

I kind of like herping reports from Mallorca, a few nice findings thanks for sharing!

Hi Thomas,
nice shots, in particular the lilfordi from St. Jordi. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for your comments.

Andre Schmid wrote:Nice report aboout a island with to less snakes

I think that there are far too many snakes on Mallorca as there shouldn't be any snakes at all. But of course I agree with you, that there are much more interesting islands when it comes to herping in Europe.

Thomas Reich wrote:Thanks for your comments.

Andre Schmid wrote:Nice report aboout a island with to less snakes

I think that there are far too many snakes on Mallorca as there shouldn't be any snakes at all.

that's what I wanted to write too

Nice muletensis & that hippocrepis is just as pretty as the ones on the mainland. As soon as you've finished killing those, there's a beach in Greece with alien chameleons you may want to clean.

Jeroen Speybroeck wrote:As soon as you've finished killing those, there's a beach in Greece with alien chameleons you may want to clean.

Yeah! Let's smoke them out of their holes. Let's get them running. Let's shake these ugly bastards down the trees and bushes! And we will deal with those who harbor them and feed them and house them.

....... and for example: you forgot all those f...ing southern wall lizards in central Europe

Andre Schmid wrote:Nice report aboout a island with to less snakes Thomas

Too less?
You should try Guadeloupe