# Corfu herping trip



## richardhind (May 18, 2016)

Hi there , 
Me and my family are going to the lovely island of Corfu, middle of September and wanted to spend a few days herping, I know there’s loads of wildlife on there and about a dozen snakes.
We staying walking distance to lake korission which I would of thought would be a good place to go.
Is there any tips that someone could give me ,ie best time of day, I presume if it’s too hot they will be all hiding
.i know September is still hot 
A friend of a friend went April and found half dozen types but was in the north.

I looked at herping in Corfu on google and it came up with an old thread on rfuk by “Thrassops” hope fully he will give some good advise if he sees this 

Cheers Richard 


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## Thrasops (Apr 15, 2008)

Hi! Corfu is a great place to go herping as there are loads of species there (probably the highest diversity of reptiles and amphibians in Europe within such a small area, particularly snakes).


The best time of year to go is spring - March to early May - but you should still see plenty of reptiles in September, although if the days are very hot this will reduce numbers of animals seen during the day.


Lake Korrission is one of the best places to go on Corfu for some unique species, I've herped there several times and always had a good day, although if you can go just after rain you will have the best results. Striped Grass Snakes (_Natrix natrix persa_) are very abundant in the ponds and ditches around the lake and you can sometimes see Dice Snakes (_Natrix tessellata_) in the shallow areas of the brackish lake itself. With those two snakes at least, it doesn't matter what time of day you go looking - they will most likely be in the water.


You also get lots of Green Lizards (_Lacerta trilineata_ and some _L. bilineata_) around Korrission, these are large and quite obvious. The ubiquitous Dalmatian Algyroides (_Algyroides nigropunctatus_) is also present although I have found them to be not as numerous around the Korrission habitat as they are in other places on Corfu (where they can be abundant _everywhere_ at some times of year, even in the towns). The males of this species are exceptionally beautiful, with blue throats and red bellies.


You have a good chance of seeing Glass Lizards (_Pseudopus apodus_), especially in the environs of the Alonaki (I've seen a few there myself over the years) and you can also sit down for a nice meal of food grown or raised on site around the lake. The Glass lizards are not common exactly, but you can see them regularly there.


I have also found Large Whip Snakes (_Dolichophis jugularis_) and the super rare European Sand Boa (_Eryx jaculus_) there. The whip snake occurs just about anywhere but can be found on stone walls and in rubbish piles around the gardens in the area; the sand boa tends to be found in sandy places, especially under man-made debris such as wood, flattened cardboard boxes or sometimes entwined amongst the plants that grow in the sand. Tortoises are also quite common there at some times of year.


A good time to go looking if the day is really hot is in the evening just as the sun starts going down and the shadows start getting longer. You can also go looking at night just after sunset, if you have a good torch. Check along roadsides for snakes basking on the warm tarmac and look at old stone walls, you will sometimes see snakes on them. In this way you can occasionally find the Leopard Snake (_Zamenis situla_) - although they are not all that common on the island, I usually see one or two. You might also see Eastern Montpellier Snakes (_Malpolon insignitus_) doing this, although they can be encountered just about anywhere at any time.


If you have the chance I recommend getting a taxi early to Corfu Town and climbing the Old Fortress (weekdays are best to avoid tourists). Here you can see the small green Ionian Wall lizards (_Podarcis tauricus ionica_) in the grassier areas, and Starred Agamas (_Stellagama stellio_). The orange-headed males are truly beautiful! The Old Fortress is the best place to see these large and impressive lizards.


A few basic tips:


1. Make sure to flip over ever piece of debris you see - bricks, stones, wood, cardboard, old clothes. You will find a lot of things such as Greek Slow Worms (_Anguis cephallonica_) and Worm Snakes (_Xerotyphlops vermicularis_) as well as all sorts of other reptiles and amphibians. Be careful when you do so as you will also find the large centipedes which are very common and can deliver a very painful bite. There are several types of scorpion there too. Always put back what you turn over so as not to destroy habitat.


2. You can find reptiles at any time if you are lucky, but the middle of the day after about ten when it is hottest won't yield much other than the odd lizard. Early morning before the sun is high, early evening, night or just after rainfall are much better times to go looking.


3. Always, always make a note of ponds, wells, ditches and streams you find. There are a few aquatic reptiles (two types of terrapin and two types of water snake) and lots of amphibians present on Corfu and all of them are quite common near water so repeated searches are great.


4. Find old, dilapidated stone walls or even fairly modern ones in wild areas that have lots of holes. It is surprising how often you can find snakes in the holes. I always walk along good walls shining my torch into every hole. Sometimes you will see snakes stretching out of the hole or coiled up at its entrance, other times they will be deeper in.

5. Evening walks will yield loads of cool animals and you can follow frog calls to water. Not only will you probably find frogs (of which there are several species) but you should also find good habitat to look for water snakes and turtles the next day.


6. Those odd calls you hear at night that sound like old-fashioned submarine sonar "pings" are Scops Owl. You will hear them a lot but they are hard to see.


7. You can find reptiles including snakes just about anywhere but the closer you are to other humans the fewer you will see, as people walking ahead of you will have disturbed them. Try to find pristine places where there don't seem to be any people about, and don't just keep to the paths. Be careful where you tread - a lot of the land is private but the locals are amongst the most hospitable in the world, if you make friends with them and explain that you are looking for nature they should happily let you walk on their land.


8. Take your goggles. The sea around Corfu is incredibly calm and clear and offers some of the best snorkelling in Europe. Not reptile-related but the water is bewitching there.


That's about it. There are very few secrets to finding reptiles, it is all about putting in the hard work and just being in places where the animals will be as often as possible.


Hope this helps.
Francis


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## richardhind (May 18, 2016)

Thank you so much for that Francis 
Very informative 
More excited than before now

I love snorkeling anyway and been to Egypt around ten times now as the Red Sea is just amazing, when I went in March I swam with a dougon and a big turtle ,that just blew my mind, there’s never many lizards only ruin lizards as it’s so hot but plenty of geckos on the wall at night
Saw a nice big agame in Rhodes last year at the hotel and plenty of lizards about was really hot in August last year tho 
Cheers rich 


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