Unexpected herping in Tunisia

[Bastien Comment]

In October, I've been to Tozeur in Tunisia with my job (it was a week-end trip that we won with some other colleagues) and on an afternoon, I've had the chance to go for a walk in the desert with a local for some unexpected herping. Here are some pictures that I took.

[Daniel Bohle]

very nice plastic bag

[Jürgen Gebhart]

The last track shows the night resting place of a Cerastes cerastes.
The tracks of the snake when it comes to the place or left it are not that deep than the track of the resting place, the wind blows them away.

Cerastes cerastes and Cerastes vipera in Israel
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=531

[Mario Schweiger]

Nice Cerastes vipera!

@Jürgen:
It seems you are a very good vipers specialist
Why Cerastes cerastes and not C. vipera?
I would be unable to tell, if the snake isnt still burrowed!

Mario

[Jürgen Gebhart]

@Jürgen:
It seems you are a very good vipers specialist
Why Cerastes cerastes and not C. vipera?
I would be unable to tell, if the snake isnt still burrowed!

Mario

I don`t have much experience with the Cerastes group, but I never saw a Cerastes vipera laying in the sand away from brunches, bushes, clump of grass, always close to them.
Cerastes cerastes lays most of the time in the middle of the dunes, with nothing around.

And Cerastes cerastes is digging deeper in the sand than Cerastes vipera, because of the size. This tracks stay longer.
If the wind blows away the tracks to the resting place of cerastes vipera it will also blows away the tracks of the resting place.

But no one in this forum knows more about the Cerastes the Aviad Bar and you, if you say it is not possible to say, than all right.

[Mario Schweiger]

Sorry, I have not image of active or resting Cerastes (not even track images) from this year Morocco trip.
But on the habitat preferences in interior of Morocco I can write the following (I never have been to other Cerastes habitats):

In Morocco Cerastes cerastes is the viper of the Hammada, the rock desert. There it lives at the edge of Wadis with open sandy areas and is avoiding large open sandy parts of the desert.
At the dunes (Erg Chebbi, Merzouga) Cerastes cerastes prefers the rocky sand parts at the edge of the dunes, where bushes or Halfa grass (Stipa tenacissima) is growing.
In contrast, most of the Cerastes vipera you find there in the open - without vegetation - dunes. Most of them burrow themselves there at the edge of the dune ridges on the Lee side or in windless depressions.

Mario

[Jürgen Gebhart]

The only experience I have is from Israel.
I only found cerastes cerastes and cerastes vipera in the same sand dunes not in the rocky area.

[Mario Schweiger]

Sidenote: Looking at the image of the "burrowing" Cerastes track, it looks like the Cerastes sp. was hiding to avoid to be hitten by raindrops. The sand around looks like that

Mario

[Gabriel Martínez]

By my opinion and small experience the behavior between Morocco or Israel Cerastes cerastes seems very different. In Morocco like Mario said Cerastes vipera habits only in sand areas with maybe only few bushes (Erg Chebbi, Mhamid, north Tarfaya...) and Cerastes cerastes is usually found in rocky areas like reg or hamada (Guelmim, Tata, Ouarzazate...) with Uromastyx and Spalerosophis dolichospilus or rocky areas with sand (Erfoud, east Morocco) and I think there are only few places where you can find both of them (Mhamid??). I saw the photos of a friend with Cerastes cerastes in habitat and I think in Tunissia could be similar to Morocco. But in Israel the history is totally different. The expert of Israel snakes in this web is Aviad Bar like Jurgen said. In Israel they found both Cerastes in same habitat: sand with some bushes (the typicall habitat in Morocco of C.vipera). Even they know some places where you can only find Cerastes vipera and in the dunes 100meters away you only find Cerastes cerastes . When the sand dissapear in Negev, Cerastes cerastes dissapear too and doesn´t habit in rocky areas (habitats very similar to Ouarzazate for example) with Pseudocerastes and Echis. I´m sure Aviad can response all our questions about tracks in Sahara dunes!

[Wouter Beukema]

Nice records Bastien! I think the lizard is a Tarentola neglecta; you'll need a close-up shot of the head to be sure. This is the smallest and most terrestrial species in the region; general morphology of the gecko on the photo seems to point to neglecta!