Outside the terminal Jurgen was smoking, after the prefunctary Islander insults etc we collected the hire car and headed to our destination, the North of Isreal..for those of you that have not had the joy of driving with jurgen, just think Grand theft auto.. he drives a car like he has stolen it
As we neared our base for the next three days, an area in the North, with both steppe like and Mediterranean habitat, we encountered our first DOR snake, a stunning Malpolon. A very different looking snake to Malpolon I have encountered else where in Europe, very reddish in colour ..
We arrived at our base and relaxed (Jurgen smoked, I moaned about lack of tea) for five minutes and then hit the minor roads to look for herps and meet up with Israels top boys, Guy and Aviad. It was just getting dark and temps were good, so we where hopeful of an eventful night.
We met Guy and his charming wife Leum ( both Guy and Aviad have charming partners, that herp with them and dont seem to mind their obsessive interest in such things..it must be like winning the lottery, or maybe English girls are different..true I am lucky enough to have an attractive partner, but if I suggested we went herping together she would look at me as if I had suggested we sell our kidneys for crack)
Guy had kindly brought us a welcoming gift in the form of a sub adult Daboia he had removed from somebodies house early.. OK flowers or chocolates is the norm, but Jurgen and myself could not have been happier.
We started scanning the roads for herps as the golden hour.20:00 to 21:30 was upon us..Guy soon spotted a second daboia.. Jurgen was so excited he nearly stopped smoking.. nearly..
- stunning patterning
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Soon after Guy spotted an Atractaspis engaddensis..one of our top ticks for the trip.. a stunning snake, with a very curious stike/bite action..
as we were laying around taking excited pics of the mole viper.. these cute little things were running about us, and trying to crawl up our trousers.. bless..
shortly afterwards we found this little fella, Myriopholis macrorhyncha.
Sadly we later found a dying Daboia, which I had to dispatch.. unfortunately DORs were all too common. To cheer us up Guy found a fabulous little Telesocpus fallax syriacus,
We met up briefly with Aviad, who in typical Israeli style also brought us a snake, in the form of Rhynchocalamus melanocephalus..
Saying goodbye to our guides Jurgen and I headed back to our base, grey foxes and Jackals were seen on the return trip, along with many small mammals.. as we approached our accommodation, the last herp of the night presented itself, on a road side outcrop, and stunning Ptyodactylus guttatus was out hunting..
We sat, Jurgen smoking, me moaning about not having a cup of tea for 19+ hours and listened to Jackals howling in the distance, before finally turning in for a few hours sleep.
Up after a pants sleep, we headed to the far North, for my biggest want of the trip, Montivipera bournmuelleri. On route we stopped at a road side ditch that actually had water in it! The ditch was like a tadpole soup, with Pelophylax bedriagae taken full advantage of the conditions..
- small ditch about 2.5mx 2.5m
Jurgen disgusted at my joy of finding dragonflies stomped off to smoke and curse Islanders, and found a number of juvenile Natrix tessellata
We carried on further north, our objective however was in an area of Military occupation, and on this occasion the habitat was not accessible.. It is what it is.. disappointing but at least the vipers have the best protection of any herp
We searched suitable habitat outside the military zone and found Lacerta media israelica, Ptyodactylus puiseuxi, Phoeniocolacerta laevis,ophisops elegans,Erienis levantinus,erienis rothi ,Trachylephis vittata, and Laudakia stellio. As well as many arachnids and insects..
- habitat
- Erienis levantinus
- Phoenicolacerta laevis
- Eirenis rothi
- The biggest grasshopper I have ever seen, the size of a mouse.. even Jurgen stopped smoking momentarily..
We headed back towards our base, Jurgen waxing on about how daboia is the sexiest snake in the world and smoking and me wondering if Jurgen is a robot, as he doesnt seem to sleep, eat, drink or poo... I think he is a nicotine based life form..We stoped at a man made irrigation lake and Jurgen spotted some Hyla
And to his immense joy a Testudo.. Jurgen rarely shows emotion but I swear I saw the traces of a smile between Marlboroughs..
We head back to our base to eat pot noodle, smoke, moan about the fact that I have not had tea now for approaching 48 hours and to do some more road cruising.. We waited for the golden hour and began our search..we found a very rapid Daboia.. and a not so rapid Eryx jaculus..
We stopped at about 23:30 hrs and decided to have an early night.. jackals and other mammals were seen on the drive home..
Next we headed to the home of the painted frog... on route we saw this sweet innocent bird being attacked by an unruly mammal.
here we found stunning dragonflies..much to Jurgens disgust...
- Ashena isoceles
- Orthetrum trinacria
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- Trithemis annulata
- Crocothemis erythraea
Few herps were at the Painted frog site, but large mammals and fish were in abundance..although we did see the usual frog, green toad and terrapin..
Stopping of on the way back we found Typhlops vermicularis and Hemidactylus turcicus. Soon we were into our last night of Northern road cruising.. Jurgen was double smoking as it was his last chance for daboia..we saw many DOR snakes, daboia,jugularis etc.. and were very lucky to find an adult Rhynchocalamus melanocephalus and another Eryx jaculus.
After a few hours of search, smoking and tea withdrawal we headed back to the accom only to find the entrance blocked by this mighty beast, Jurgen was clearly too afraid to leave the car, so I took it upon myself to move the creature on..
After our ordeal a quick pot noodle and bed was on the cards..
We were travelling South in the morning.. new habitat, new herps..
TO BE CONTINUED.....
pAUL
