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Re: Trip Report Peleponnese March 2017

PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2017 10:44 pm
by Michal Szkudlarek
@up
Using a few instead of few in a sentence changes a sentence's meaning. Whereas "a few" implies a small number of some that is greater than two, "few" implies only a small number.

So I made no mistake.

Re: Trip Report Peleponnese March 2017

PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2017 1:03 am
by Berislav Horvatic
Michal Szkudlarek wrote:@up
Using a few instead of few in a sentence changes a sentence's meaning. Whereas "a few" implies a small number of some that is greater than two, "few" implies only a small number.

So I made no mistake.

If you are on your deathbed, it makes a great deal of difference whether the doctors say there is "a little hope"
or "little hope". (In the latter case, you are expected to die soon, as far as they can predict.) Has nothing to do with "two or more than two".
(A) little and (a) few are quantifiers meaning 'some'. Little and few have negative meanings. We use them to mean "not as much as may be expected or wished" ...
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar ... -few-a-few

Re: Trip Report Peleponnese March 2017

PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2017 9:59 am
by Paul Lambourne
Do you know I am so old I remember this forum when it used to be about people posting their field observations from various European trips accompanied by valuable observations and comments from peers... now it seems to be a forum for "one-upmanship", criticism and grammar correction..

No wonder all the cool kids use facebook now...

Paul :evil:

Re: Trip Report Peleponnese March 2017

PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2017 11:58 am
by Nils Kooijman
Mario Schweiger wrote:nice observations, but there are no L. viridis on Peloponnes. L. trilineata may have blue throats and flanks.


Wow, you're absolutely right. I think I have some pics so I'll get that checked, thanks!

Re: Trip Report Peleponnese March 2017

PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2017 12:03 pm
by Nils Kooijman
Ruggero Morimando wrote:Grecians hate snakes/reptiles even more than italians: this on my personal experience... :?
That said, I would like to see the habitat where the situla was found, and especially the "fiat wheel trim" under which it was found... ;)
This simply because internet is full of images of snakes, and the difference between a simple picture of a situla from an interesting report is just given by the tale, the picture of the habitats and, possibly, the picture of the exact place where the reptile was found...
Anyway thanks for your good report (I've been in the same places too -Peloponnese- but many years ago... :roll: )


I'm a bit ashamed I didn't get a good pic. But I have some pics where I stand in front of it.. on the other side of this small road there was a typical Olive orchard

Image
Image

Re: Trip Report Peleponnese March 2017

PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2017 12:45 pm
by Ruggero M.
Thanks Niels and thanks Bero!

First question: the meaning of the word "few". I think Bero is right. In the common use "few" (in german "wenig", in italian "poco") has a "negative" sense.
The proof of this is a common used italian expression "poco ma buono" or "pochi ma buoni" (= few but good; wenig aber gut) and the presence of "but" (=ma; =aber) is just "the" proof that "few" is not considered a positive connotation.
In case of a bad new, obviously (or strangely!), "few" becomes a positive connotation (two negative connotations = a positive one!)... example... "You have few cancer metastasis"... In this rare case, few is better than many... :shock: :?
P.S. For me Berislav's nitpickery about grammar is an incitement to better understand languages and my knowledge: so, in general, not a bad thing, if it doesn't become a sort of obsession! :lol:

Second question: the situla.
I spent many springs in Greece, and searched always the situla, which is one of my favourite snakes. And sometimes I found situla presence (normally already killed specimens) in places where I otherwise would have not spent any time in search of this snake: surroundings of camping places, olive orchards, near villages or hotels, on roads in very dry and bare areas, and so on...
We must say that this findings are not so "objective" in indicating a species presence/density, because is it simply easier for a situla (or another snake) to be found and killed near a road, a village, a hotel or a camping place, than inside a wild mediterranean macchia.
Anyway: from those times on, I always look around villages, hotels, houses and garbage piles... :P

You write on the left of the picture there is an olive orchard: and what kind of wood is the one on the right of you? Wild and high mediterranean macchia? If so: it's the typical situla habitat... :P


Another observation.
Your situla was a rather dull/dark specimen.
In Greece I found a much darker specimen, which I could define blackish or even "melanotic"... I've pictures of this, but only on slides! :?
On the contrary, in Croatia (Krk and Cres islands) I found always brightly coloured specimens, often of a wonderful straw-yellow ground colour. And no striped specimens, which were otherwise rather common in Greece.

Re: Trip Report Peleponnese March 2017

PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2017 1:09 pm
by Nils Kooijman
Ruggero Morimando wrote:Thanks Niels and thanks Bero!

Second question: the situla.
I spent many springs in Greece, and searched always the situla, which is one of my favourite snakes. And sometimes I found situla presence (normally already killed specimens) in places where I otherwise would have not spent any time in search of this snake: surroundings of camping places, olive orchards, near villages or hotels, on roads in very dry and bare areas, and so on...
We must say that this findings are not so "objective" in indicating a species presence/density, because is it simply easier for a situla (or another snake) to be found and killed near a road, a village, a hotel or a camping place, than inside a wild mediterranean macchia.
Anyway: from those times on, I always look around villages, hotels, houses and garbage piles... :P

You write on the left of the picture there is an olive orchard: and what kind of wood is the one on the right of you? Wild and high mediterranean macchia? If so: it's the typical situla habitat... :P


I'll have to ask Marc, but as far as I recall it was all fairly agricultural around with no mediterranean macchia. I agree with your observation however, it just is much easier to find (and identify) snakes in open semi-cultured landscapes. I ran into a largish snake on a rocky hillside with high macchia and it just scurried away without me being able to get a hold of it or even a good look at it.

As for the colouring, it was indeed fairly dark, though I thought it just hadn't shed its skin yet the season.

Re: Trip Report Peleponnese March 2017

PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2017 1:14 pm
by Nils Kooijman
Paul Lambourne wrote:Do you know I am so old I remember this forum when it used to be about people posting their field observations from various European trips accompanied by valuable observations and comments from peers... now it seems to be a forum for "one-upmanship", criticism and grammar correction..

No wonder all the cool kids use facebook now...

Paul :evil:


Hi Paul,

Yeah I must admit I'm a bit bewildered by the seriously off-topic discussion on semantics :(

Thanks for your positivity however and glad you enjoyed the report! You should definitely head out to the Peleponnese. Though if I were to go again (which I definitely will) then I would check out the Mani peninsula!

Re: Trip Report Peleponnese March 2017

PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2017 5:32 pm
by Jeroen Speybroeck
Thanks for the report, Nils! We can never get enough of those. I just got back from the Peloponnese myself and it is close to heaven, indeed. I will post some stuff soon!

Well, yes, you systematically misspelled the name op the peninsula and Bero let you get away with it, the good soul. But, as I wrote before, who cares? I still think the off topic stuff is way too lengthy and is bad for the forum (cf. what Paul and Mario tried to hint). I am a terribly annoying language nitpicker myself, but this is not the place. I still love this forum, but for me personally having to sort through so much non-herping content makes posting less attractive. I would be very pleased if the few who are keen on linguistic discussion etc. would entertain themselves elsewhere, but I am not going waste any more time trying to debate Bero, or he'll throw his drama act of near-excile (which is untrue btw) at all of us for the x-th time so we can all feel sorry for the life of agony I supposedly cursed him to.

Re: Trip Report Peleponnese March 2017

PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2017 5:36 pm
by Nils Kooijman
Jeroen Speybroeck wrote:Thanks for the report, Nils! We can never get enough of those. I just got back from the Peloponnese myself and it is close to heaven, indeed. I will post some stuff soon!

Well, yes, you systematically misspelled the name op the peninsula and Bero let you get away with it, the good soul. But, as I wrote before, who cares? I still think the off topic stuff is way too lengthy and is bad for the forum (cf. what Paul and Mario tried to hint). I am a terribly annoying language nitpicker myself, but this is not the place. I still love this forum, but for me personally having to sort through so much non-herping content makes posting less attractive. I would be very pleased if the few who are keen on linguistic discussion etc. would entertain themselves elsewhere, but I am not going waste any more time trying to debate Bero, or he'll throw his drama act of near-excile (which is untrue btw) at all of us for the x-th time so we can all feel sorry for the life of agony I supposedly cursed him to.


Oops :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops:

Fixed it! And looking forward to your report!