Symi. There is something in this small jewel in the eastern Aegean that attracts me there like a magnet. And it is not only the very beautiful village. It is the rocky, dry, inhospitable landscape, where I imagine snakes and lizards hidden everywhere. And hide they do... In fact, hiding (from me) is the worst thing they do.
So in August 2018 I visited Symi again, hoping for two snakes in particular. The Ottoman Viper Montivipera xanthina and the Coin-marked snake Hemorrhois nummifer. Temperatures in August are soaring. Reptiles become crepuscular or nocturnal. And this is a good thing, because I didn't want to be out in the sun searching for them.
The easy things were of course the lizards. Walking along stone walls I was delighted to see baby Starred Agamas Stellagama stellio almost everywhere.
I would get up early in the morning and go for the lovely Anatolian Rock Lizards Anatololacerta pelasgiana that were living on stone walls near my room.
At the base of stone walls I could find things such as snake skins and aestivating Spur-thighed Tortoises, but not the snakes I would love to find. The closest I came to the Coin-marked snake was a large skin of it.
Mediodactylus oertzeni (one of the five newly split Mediodactylus species in Greece) was common too in the night patrols.
Because of the season, baby lizards of all species were more than the adults, giving me the chance to look their details.
But the most interest things happened in the night. The air was cool and pleasant, and the search was all mystery inside a small gorge, under large trees and amongst stone walls. There I came along a Cat Snake Telescopus fallax one night, for a moment thinking that I had found the Coin-marked Snake. and another night I stumbled upon a rare scene, a Cat snake eating a Snake-eyed Lizard.
In fact, that was what made me find the Ottoman Viper. I was very tired and walking to the car, when my eye caught the snake beside a stone. I was very close to the car and I was leaving the place. But after this encounter I was so happy again that I decided to give it another try before leaving. I turned around and headed for the hills again. Just in 50 metres I came upon the most beautiful and fierce snake I have ever seen. It was an Ottoman viper 90 cm long, a large snake. Adrenaline was very high, because I was alone on a small island in the middle of the night, and in the case of a bite from such a snake I don't know what I would do. But I didn't think of this then, I was just mesmerised by this beautiful snake. In the beginning it was all hissing and attacking, but after a while it calmed so I could make some photos. Even If I had seen only this animal on beautiful Symi, the visit would be a real success.
More photos of these species can be found at www.greeknature.com
