i swear it was four foot long !

andy-f


Joined: 03/05/2009
Posts: 1256

Message Posted:
20/03/2011 23:51

last week me and my brother spent a week fishing on a deep lake i have found in the east part of the island . on the first day we went exploring around it to find the good spots to fish , while climbing up a small incline i grabbed what i thought was a piece of irigation pipe only to realise i had grabbed a four foot long black snake by the tail ! i shat myself and the snake shat its self and shot off into the under growth and our kid did a runner .



is it true the blacks are not dangerous ? any way the fishing here must be the best of any lake in the trnc we caught loads of carp upto seven pounds but lost plenty real big ones , ill be ready with the proper gear next month .

andy

philbailey


Joined: 17/01/2011
Posts: 3534

Message Posted:
21/03/2011 00:06

Always the one that got away

typical fisherman lol

MsGarnet


Joined: 04/01/2009
Posts: 989

Message Posted:
21/03/2011 00:16

Ahem "last week, my brother and I spent a ........" :o)

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
21/03/2011 00:32

Andy. I think you are right about the black snakes.

Agnes


Joined: 11/04/2009
Posts: 81

Message Posted:
21/03/2011 01:10

Best laugh I've had all week

racoonchic



Joined: 17/11/2008
Posts: 3223

Message Posted:
21/03/2011 03:25

its a myth.. blacks do not have big snakes

yorgozlu



Joined: 16/06/2009
Posts: 4437

Message Posted:
21/03/2011 08:38

There are six type of snakes in Cyprus, (two types of Whip snake) of which three are poisonous: Only one of these, the blunt-nosed viper can be dangerous to humans. The other two are the slender cat snake and the Montpellier snake.

Venomous Snakes

Cat snake (Telescopus tallax cyprianus) Up to about 80cm in length. The snake is distinguished by its broad flat head, vertical slit eyes and the large scales on its forehead. Along its whole length one can discern square shaped markings in a diamond like pattern. The colour of the snake can be beige, brown or green, while the square shapes always stand out.

Montpellier snake (Malpolon monspessulanus insignitus) It has lids over large round eyes. The markings on young snakes are very variable basically brown but with either yellow stripes or spots or lines. Adults however, are either grey or olive-green with the underside of the snake being pale or slightly yellow.

Blunt-nosed viper (Macrovipera l.lebetina cypriensis) This snake can reach

yorgozlu



Joined: 16/06/2009
Posts: 4437

Message Posted:
21/03/2011 08:39

This snake can reach a length of 130cm and the thickness of your arm. It can be easily recognized by it's blunt nose. Sandy in coloure. geocities.com

Non-Venomous Snakes:

The Large Whip snake (Coluber jugularis) The most common of all the snake. It can reach a length of as much as two and a half metres. Olive-brown but as the snake gets a bit older, the colour changes to a blue-black, with only the underside of the head a light colour, and smooth scales.

Worm snake (Typhlops vermicularis) Pinky-brown in colour and is often found hiding under stones, and just looks like an earthworm.

Cyprus Whip snake (Coluber cypriensis) The only endemic reptile in Cyprus. The young Whip snake is beige, its underside pale pink, after about a year its colour starts to change to an olive green. Then after about two and a half years it becomes all black in colour with a green tinge.

Cyprus Grass snake (Natrix natrix cypriaca) The colour of the normal variant of the Grass Snake is light to dark brown.

yorgozlu



Joined: 16/06/2009
Posts: 4437

Message Posted:
21/03/2011 08:40

The second is Dark brown to black and the animals belong to the "Picturata" variant. The third variant, named "Melanotic" has a uniform deep blue-black colour and does not have any markings.

Coin snake (Coluber nummifer) The markings of this snake are very similar to the venomous Blunt-nosed viper. The head stands out from the body and is relatively big. The pupils are round; the body is strong, but slim; the tail tapers to a long thin end. Its head has large scales and the body has a glistening sheen. All these characteristics distinguish it from the Blunt-Nosed Viper.





http://www.kypros-cyprus.com/nature.html

Tenakoutou



Joined: 27/07/2009
Posts: 4110

Message Posted:
21/03/2011 10:34

yorgozlu - re. snakes.



Have you heard about the snake that is a lime green colour. When I was busy cutting the dead fronds off my date palm, in Nikoklia Village [Paphos], I noticed something at the periphery of my vision - it was a light green coloured snake, with its head with the black tongue flicking in and out, swaying from side to side about 18" from my head. I moved back slowly, and waved the 'loppers' [long secateurs] slowly in front of the snake - just like a snake charmer does with a Cobra. I've used this method many times, as we were inundated with snakes of all types on our property - but don't try this with a Blunt Nosed Pit Viper, because they'll back up, coil themselves up, then suddenly, like a spring letting go, hurl themselves at you!



Anyway, I grabbed this green snake in the jaws of the extremely sharp [Bahco] 'loppers', but couldn't cut it's head off, so I dragged it up on the patio and after wedging it against the wall, managed to cut the head off.

simbas



Joined: 16/07/2007
Posts: 5943

Message Posted:
21/03/2011 10:42

Oh my god , i'm not a lover of snakes , but thats a bit gruesome Ten

Simbas

Tenakoutou



Joined: 27/07/2009
Posts: 4110

Message Posted:
21/03/2011 10:48

Msg 11 - Cont'd:



My young Essex neighbour - 6' 2'' - came over to see what was going on. He has a Cobra's head tattoed on his left bicep - so, standing to the right of him, I held the decapitated snake next to the Cobra's head and the green snake's tail was just touching the ground. My girly took a coupla three photos, which certainly caused a few belly-laughs in various pubs around Paphos & Essex!



Before anyone 'shoots me down in flames' for killing the snake, the local villagers told me that these are, indeed, poisonous and aggressive.



We had a black snake that lived in a hole in our dry-stone wall - 10' long. My girly used to put out bread and milk for it, which it loved. It got quite used to us, and would coil itself up in the sun and snooze about 15' away from us when we were sitting in the garden. Once, it came slithering across the garden, very close to us, with a Carob Rat in its jaws. It sat in front of us, swallowing the rat, which screamed all the way down!

stevo-london


Joined: 23/10/2010
Posts: 253

Message Posted:
21/03/2011 16:33

balck snakes are ok

yorgozlu



Joined: 16/06/2009
Posts: 4437

Message Posted:
21/03/2011 18:32

Tenakoutou;



Often seen in greener (hence the colour) parts those snakes.ie.Citrus orchards,and indeed they are poisonous as most are.

As for black ones,they are a love and hate relationships.We too used to have them in our old houses as a pet/guard but once you've seen what thet are capable of,you soon learn to respect them more.



I watched my uncle being chased/whipped by one just because he happened to be by the well in a melon field to change the direction of the water.

Funny enough,his resting place is just there now.But not because of the snake,got killed in 74 at very sameish spot.

Tenakoutou



Joined: 27/07/2009
Posts: 4110

Message Posted:
22/03/2011 11:27

yorgozlu/msg 14:



I'm so sorry to hear about the tragedy of your dear uncle - the GC's [and the Greeks] certainly have plenty to answer for and it really galls me that all these idiots in EU - in fact, wordwide - are still being sucked in by GC lies and propaganda.



'My' black snake - it was a beauty! However, I have a confession to make.....one day, as he was going home [entering the hole in the dry-stone wall that we built], I was feeling a bit bold, so tried to pull it backwards out of the hole by its tail. Tanrim - it was strong - I couldn't! It then must have decided it had had a gutsfull of me and went to live elsewhere, cos we never saw it again. Oh, I must tell you! One day, I was passing under the Bougainvillea, where it used to snooze in the sun, and the bugger fell out and dropped on my head - I dunno which one of us got the the bigger shock!



About the green snake - I never spotted another, and never have since. I remember it had slits for eyes!

tattlad


Joined: 13/12/2008
Posts: 479

Message Posted:
22/03/2011 12:49

YORGOZLU......

As you seem to very informed, can you tell me which of the Cypriot snakes grow over 2 metres long, and are orangey light brown, I ask this because my wife and I saw one when driving up to the front of our villa, it was easily over 2 metres long, and a friend of mine from Bellapais has photographs of a similar snake again about 2 metres + taken lying against the wall of his villa, I ask this because I notice the description of the blunt nosed viper you gave said they only grow to 1m 30cm.

deputydawg


Joined: 30/03/2010
Posts: 1727

Message Posted:
22/03/2011 13:29

On the face of it the remedy to fear of snakes is simple, round up all the cats and dogs, and dump them on KAR, having first got a Mongoose as a replacement pet. Perhaps not, I live next door to the KAR secretary ! (

suehowlittle


Joined: 31/10/2010
Posts: 1202

Message Posted:
22/03/2011 14:47

Deputydawg - shame on you!?!?!? Gonna tell Gwen what you said.

deputydawg


Joined: 30/03/2010
Posts: 1727

Message Posted:
22/03/2011 18:00

It will not happen as I cannot spell "Rikki Tikki Tavi" ! (

Tenakoutou



Joined: 27/07/2009
Posts: 4110

Message Posted:
22/03/2011 19:39

ttatlad/re. msg 16:



I think 'your' snake is a 'Montpellier' - they do vary in colour, endemically, and may appear a different colour according to changing conditions of light.



This 'link' may be useful:

http://essentialcyprus.com/snakes-north-cyprus/