nature

Nature & Wildlife

"Sing a song of Cyprus, where songbirds go to die,
Four and twenty migrants, destined for the pie,
Tavern cash-tills jingle, and profit reigns - alack,
Twenty million birds a year who never make it back!"
(From the Proact 21st Century Collection of Cruel Nursery Rhymes)

Legislation regarding the protection of wildlife and in particular trapping and liming in Cyprus. cypruswildlife.gov.cy

The oldest known evidence of people keeping cats as pets may have been found by archaeologists. news.bbc.co.uk

Parks, Reserves, and Other Protected Areas comunic.it

Amphibia

Pubinfo.gov.nc.tr

Bats

Egyptian fruit bats are found in Cyprus. They roost in ancient tombs and temples, rock crevices, garden trees, and date plantations.

Bees:

beekeeping.com

Birds:

Conservation.org.cy Fatbirder.com Proact Cyprus Project Birdlife in Cyprus

Butterflies:

Grayling.dircon.co.uk Butterfly Guide.co.uk Butterfly and Moth greek names Holeinhand.com

Cicadas

kypros-cyprus.com

Fish

Red and grey mullet, sea bream, octopus, sole and squid are the main types caught and eaten

Flora & Fauna:

Nature of Cyprus

Flora

Landofbrokenpromises.co.uk valentine.gr leidenuniv.nl Popular plants

Forest Recreation

openspace.eca.ac.uk PDF

Foxs

Frogs

Two kinds of frogs, the green tree frog and the marsh frog

General:

Nature of Cyprus Cyprus Museum of Natural History

Hares

paphosfinder.com

Hedgehogs:

Picture move-to-cyprus.com

Herbs

Invertebrates

Jan Ove Rein

Jelly Fish

cyprus-mail.com

Lizards

pubinfo.gov.nc.tr Geckos Chameleons colszoo.org

mosquitos

kypros-cyprus.com

Moufflon

blueplanetbiomes.org

Owls

cyprus-mail.com

Rats

hort.purdue.edu

Scorpions:

Jan Ove Rein home.online.no

Sharks

Sharks swim in the deep waters far away from the shore hri.org web.cyberia.net Sharks seen by fisher men cyprus-mail.com No risk to swimmers cyprus-mail.com

Snails

Snakes

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 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. 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.

Snake George PDFRolexawards.com Snakegeorge-cy.com Cyprusive.com Pubinfo.gov.nc.tr 2.cytanet.com.cy cyprus.gov.cy

Snake buster - If you are worried by snakes, repel them with a new product rather than trying to kill them cyprus-mail.com

Tarantula: Chaetopelma karlamani & Chaetopelma gracile

cypruscollector.net library.thinkquest.org Chaetopelma karlamani timart.be Chaetopelma gracile giantspiders.com birdspiders.com
treating bites wilderness-survival.net

Toad

The Green Toad

Turtles

Pubinfo.gov.nc.tr groups.msn.com It’s tough being a turtle cyprus-mail.com

Books

Covering all Cyprus Flora & Founa Hellenicbookservice.com

Geckos

This little chap is known locally as Misharos. He as small hairs invisible to the naked eye on his feet, each one ending with a sucker, this allows him to walk upside down on the ceiling. To have one of these in your room is the most efficient form of fly control. His tummy is slightly transparent, you will be able to ascertain if he's done his job, fly's eaten will be visible through natures window. Unfortunately the larger lizards enjoy eating the Misharos.

Cicadas, a winged insect fond of basking on trees, the male makes a chirping or clicking noise. They usually rise with the sun and sleep when darkness falls