Trip Report Peloponnese March 2017

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Re: Trip Report Peloponnese March 2017

Postby Jeroen Speybroeck » Sat Apr 15, 2017 5:43 pm

My personal thoughts about snake detection- pristine habitat can not only be harder to survey, but may also contain less prey items than the good ol' dumpsite. I think on the Peloponnese you can expect a lot of the snake species in a lot of places, meaning that while niche segregation exists to some extent, a lot of species can be found 'everywhere', and I would add that situla seems definitely one of those on this peninsula.
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Re: Trip Report Peloponnese March 2017

Postby Jeroen Speybroeck » Sat Apr 15, 2017 5:48 pm

And as to why - plentiful resources (basking space, shelter, food, humidity,...) make competitive exclusion less pressing.

But of course the truth is likely to be more complex, and situla's somewhat cryptic nature makes any decent study a tough challenge.

Now I hope my fat fingers did not type any errors on this small phone screen.
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Re: Trip Report Peloponnese March 2017

Postby Jeroen Speybroeck » Sat Apr 15, 2017 5:51 pm

One more thing, Nils - are you that one single human being who does not like chameleons? ;) :P
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Re: Trip Report Peloponnese March 2017

Postby Jeroen Speybroeck » Sat Apr 15, 2017 5:54 pm

And another thought. :mrgreen:

I also expected to find way more worm snakes, but maybe the lower surface of stones was too cold?
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Re: Trip Report Peloponnese March 2017

Postby Nils Kooijman » Sat Apr 15, 2017 6:44 pm

Jeroen Speybroeck wrote:One more thing, Nils - are you that one single human being who does not like chameleons? ;) :P


I love them, but, I'm a bit peculiar about introduced species.. we had wrongly assumed all of the Peloponnese would be similar in herp activity, otherwise we would have definitely gone South and to the chameleons :)

Btw Jeroen since you're reading: we saw Greek Rock Lizards quite a bit more Westwards than the distribution map in your book puts them. I can provide map details if interested.
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Re: Trip Report Peloponnese March 2017

Postby Nils Kooijman » Sat Apr 15, 2017 6:48 pm

Jeroen Speybroeck wrote:My personal thoughts about snake detection- pristine habitat can not only be harder to survey, but may also contain less prey items than the good ol' dumpsite. I think on the Peloponnese you can expect a lot of the snake species in a lot of places, meaning that while niche segregation exists to some extent, a lot of species can be found 'everywhere', and I would add that situla seems definitely one of those on this peninsula.


Yeah, especially some snakes like dice snake seem to be attracted to dump sites (near water). Maybe depends on whether the species feeds on rats or other 'dump attracted' prey.

About the worm snakes, yeah apparently. Still too deep under the ground, should've dug some holes :lol:
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Re: Trip Report Peloponnese March 2017

Postby Frédéric Seyffarth » Sat Apr 15, 2017 7:06 pm

As Ruggero seems to be interested by some habitats data of Zamenis situla, and probably some others, I found this species in a forest habitat near Agiasos on Lesvos island, Greece.
It was a real surprise for me to find one here, as i never though this species live in a so closed field.
Hope it can have an interest for someone... :D
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Re: Trip Report Peloponnese March 2017

Postby Ruggero M. » Sat Apr 15, 2017 7:13 pm

Frédéric Seyffarth wrote:As Ruggero seems to be interested by some habitats data of Zamenis situla, and probably some others, I found this species in a forest habitat near Agiasos on Lesvos island, Greece.
It was a real surprise for me to find one here, as i never though this species live in a so closed field.
Hope it can have an interest for someone... :D


Thanks Frederic! Have you pictures of that forest?
Why a surprise? Was it found in a thick and shady place?
Habitat of situla is not a big problem, but if you want to find this snake, even in the "easy" springtime, you must remember that you must search after rainfalls and/or during early morning hours, evening hours or in the night... :P ;)
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Re: Trip Report Peloponnese March 2017

Postby Jeroen Speybroeck » Sat Apr 15, 2017 10:39 pm

Nils Kooijman wrote:Btw Jeroen since you're reading: we saw Greek Rock Lizards quite a bit more Westwards than the distribution map in your book puts them. I can provide map details if interested.


I am always reading ;)

Always interessed to fix errors and take new data into account!
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Re: Trip Report Peloponnese March 2017

Postby Frédéric Seyffarth » Sun Apr 16, 2017 10:32 am

Well,

Even if it is a little (lot) off topic, i would like to get your attention about the distribution of the Vipera berus in the book. Contrary to what we can see in the map, it is not present in the east of France (Alsace/Vosges). It stops in the german territory "Schwartz-Wald".
It used to be a small population from some introduced animals in a place in the Vosges mountain but the last observation of a Vipera berus in this site dates back to the early nineties. I think i have an old slide...
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