SECOND PART: THE REG AND THE DESERT
- 2. The desert and the reg.jpg (56.53 KiB) Viewed 13816 times
We woke up in Guelmim (22 August) and we drove to Assa. By the way we found A nice Uromastyx nigriventris and two Agama impalearis male road killed. We drove to a village close to Assa where it had more records of Echis leucogaster in Morocco until abril 2009. The car thermometer marked 52º. All the animals were under acacias (even we saw a Hieratus fasciatus in the shadow of a Acacia) so Raul and I had to eat under a acacia.
- Habitat near Assa
- Uromastyx nigriventris
- Agama impalearis. Male DOR
- Eating under Acacia. Bad experience......
In the village we began to herp. One Moroccan man came to us and told us we may show our passport in the police place. There we found a man and he saw the hook of Raul and he asked us if we were snake catchers. I recognized him face, he was Kentaoui, the person who finds the first Echis leucogaster alive in Morocco. We began to talk and he invited us to his house. His house was a oasis in the middle of the desert. He show us the exactly place where he found the first Echis and the place where Michel Aymerich made the first photo of a Echis leucogaster in Morocco. He told us he had found many of them. He told the best moment was at night after the rain. We searched at night in the walls of Kentaoui´s house. During the day we could only see stones (52º!!!) but at night all was full of life and we could see many invertebrates, some Tarentola boehmei and some Chalcides ocellatus. But no Echis…
- Kentaoui house. The only humid pound in all the valley...
- Tarentola boehmei
- Chalcides ocellatus
Next day (23 August) Kentaoui asked us about to rent a 4x4 and pass the day in a closer oasis. We accepted. We drove in the 4x4 to the oasis. By the way we found many Uromastyx nigriventris. Kentaoui told us he sometimes had seen from the car a Varanus griseus running but we didn´t be lucked. In the Oasis Kentaoui began to show us the tracks of animals and some minutes later we could see very close many jackals in the shadow of the palms (they run quickly when they saw us). Close to this oasis a friend of Kentaoui had found a Telescopus tripolitanus recently (he had confused this snake with a juvenile Naja haje (legionis morph) and Raul and I were looking for snakes but during sun hours it was impossible and we only could find many Pelophylax saharicus, some Tarentola and a nice female Agama impalearis.
We came back to Kentaoui house. We began to search again and we found many Uromastyx nigriventris and under a stone a Psammophis schokari adult with a juvenile Uromastyx in the mouth, suddenly snake left the Uromastyx and run! We took the dinner with Kentaoui and we looked for again in the wall but we only found the same reptile species of yesterday and a Tropiocolotes algericus. No rain, no Echis...
- The Oasis
- Pelophylax saharicus, in situ
- Agama impalearis, female
- Uromastyx nigriventris, baby found in the mouth of a Psammophis schokari
- Uromastyx nigriventris
- Tropiocolotes algericus
- Psammophis schokari
We woke up (24 August) and took the breakfast with Kentaoui. We gave him some gifts for his hospitality and we drove to Assa. In the middle of the way we found a road killed Psammophis schokari and a dead Varanus griseus.
- Varanus griseus
We drove to Tata and there we found some Natrix maura, 1 hundred of Pelophylax perezi and a Hemorrhois algirus intermedius in a old water hole. It was a old puit and it was dangerous to fall into. And the snake disappeared in a creek of the wall of the puit. We were driving at night but no snakes crossed the road. Only mammals and toads…
- Tata landscape
- Natrix maura
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- Natrix maura
- 21. Natrix.jpg (255.48 KiB) Viewed 13798 times
- Natrix maura
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Next day (25 August) we were in the surroundings of Tata. We were very tired and the hot was too hard and we only saw a nice Circaetus gallicus, a DOR Chamaleo chamaeleon and a juvenile Hemorrhois hippocrepis.
- Chamaleo chamaeleon DOR
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- Hemorrhois hippocrepis
Next day we woke (26 August) up and drove to a hotel in Ouarzazate because the hot was hard and we couldn´t find reptiles. We could only see a Psammophis schokari and some Ptyodactylus oudrii. At night we looked for in some rivers close to Ouarzazate where I knew it could be possible to find Daboia mauritanica or Telescopus tripolitanus but we only found some Ptyodactylus oudrii and an Agama impalearis male sleeping out of its burrow (?).
- Ptyodactylus oudrii
- Psammophis schokari
The day 27 August we drove to Mhamid. By the way we found a roadkilled Spalerosophis dolichospilus, Natrix maura, Agama impalearis, Uromastyx nigriventris, Tarentola boehmei and Ptyodactylus oudrii. We arrived Mhamid and began to search tracks. But a 4x4 came to us and two Moroccan people began to told us about a camel trip in the desert, to take the dinner in a tent with them and many things to get our money. Finally we left our second chance to find Cerastes vipera and we drove to Erfoud. By the way we drove by interesting roads for Telescopus tripolitanus and Echis leucogaster but we found aother road killed Spalerosophis dolichospilus and an interesting Cerastes cerastes (morph? “mutila”, without horns).
- Landscape near Agdz
- Another Spalerosophis dolichospilus DOR
- Landscape near Agdz
- Oasis near Agdz
- Tarentola boehmei
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- Spalerosophis dolichospilus DOR
- Cerastes cerastes (morph "mutila"?)
We woke up (28 august) and drove to Erfoud to find a dunes where we had found Cerastes cerastes in my first trip to Morocco. We found the exactly place and we began to search. 1 hour later we had found a Psammophis schokari without head (?), some Acanthodactlyus dumerili, some Ptyodactylus oudrii and a Cerastes cerastes tracks and few minutes later the author of the tracks.
- Landscape near Erfoud
- Cerastes cerastes tracks
- Cerastes cerastes
After taking photos and video of the Cerastes we drove to Merzouga to try to see Cerastes vipera (third chance). We arrived there and again many Moroccan people began to talk with us. It was impossible to look for a place without people with my car (tourism). Finally I slept in the car whereas Raul was looking for tracks but some minutes later Raul came with a Moroccan person. We was very tired and we thought left the Cerastes vipera for another trip. We drove to Ouarzazate and slept in Skoura.
- Erg Chebbi