Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Greeting from Israel

Today was my first serious herping expedition of my stay.

Today I went north to the mountains, Mt Carmel NP. I saw few larger lizard and a few skinks, not able to get close enough for capture or photography. I did not see much more except for a lighting fast Colubrid that was hiding under...a good old peice to TIN. No time to react and grap it. I am being careful that I know what I'm grabbing before I grab. I also found a nasty big Centipede (3/8 wide and 4 inches long) which I also did not grab! The only thing of real interest was a snake DOR that I could not identify, the remains were flattened an dry. It was part of a large snake with belly scutes that were about 30mm wide. I took a picture but can't tell much from it either, DNA would be the only way.

One thing I noticed is Israel has a huge ferral cat problem. I even saw them in the National Park arround the campgrounds. This may account for the lack of herps, since cats will catch them even if they're not hungry. They is also a report in the scientific literature of "Cat" envenomations by Daboia palestinae. Curiosity still kills the cat!

Tomorrow morning I'm off to the desert parts of the country. An area where there will be fewer cats and a lot more herps.

Best,

Al

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Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but foot prints. Not a law, just a good idea.

Boy do you get around!LOL
Ein Gedi is in Israel I believe, out in the desert someplace.
Cheers
Brett

Discretion is the better part of valor when it comes to grabbing snakes in a part of the world that is strange to you. Enjoy your visit & stay safe, my friend.

~~Greg~~

I'm back...not much to report. Did not see many lizards or snakes...

Bummer!!

Al
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Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but foot prints. Not a law, just a good idea.

Well... Not much to be found unfortunately Caught a few "sand skinks" that were really cool but did not see much of anything. Really when I think about it, there was not much of any wildlife I could see in Southern Israel; Insects, Lizards, Snakes NADA!! Lots of trash strewn about but not a whole lot of life. The food chain is in bad shape from what I could see.

Major Bummer!
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Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but foot prints. Not a law, just a good idea.

Just curious, the snake in the picture, some kind of adder, right?
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0.1.0 Ball Python - Shaman
1.0.0 Green Iguana - Ike
1.0.0 Tokay Gecko - Fang
2.2.0 Cats - Pumpkin, Furball, Pixie, Stitch
1.0.0 Cockatiel - Ozzy
0.1.0 Budgie - Tweetie
1.0.0 Dwarf Rabbit - Floyd, R.I.P. Rascal
0.0.1 Rat who was too friendly to be eaten - Scabbers

Hi:

Sorry I didn't post the information with the picture.

Sahara Sand Viper/ Cerastes vipera A fantastic species to keep, I just love them because they don't "fly" around the room and try to kill you everytime you open the door. Not very toxic, small snake ~12 inches full size, feeds nicely.

This male would very very gently take frozen thawed pinkies right from the forceps. The female can be gentle but not often, so I nick-named her "Chomp" Just one cool species!!

Al

Try & find the little bugger

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Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but foot prints. Not a law, just a good idea.