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Herping trip to UAE : |
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rubida Member Joined: 16 Sep 2007 No. of posts: 4  View other posts by rubida |
Posted: 01 May 2008 A very illustrative herping postąwith the necessary descriptive information. Our herping trip started on the 2nd of April 2008 from UAE- United Arabian Emirates In the warm and humid
Like vultures, we inspected three different catches. No sea snakes, but we did see to it that these unfortunate green turtles caught up in the nets got released back without any harm.
Khor Kalba mangrove close to the border of
Wadi Al Bih ū
ąwith a view of note!
That night armed with snake sticks and torches we started to search for the rare Pseudocerastes persicus (Persian false horned viper). Not for too long after the search started did Damien find the first snake, Echis omanensis. No Pseudocerastes that night, but I did manage to find a second E.omanensis minutes after Damien caught his. Echis omanensis (
Searching for cave geckos on our way back from the
Entering the
ąthe reptiles living there:
Large-headed ground gecko
Sandfish (don't know what happened to his nose)
Frog-eyed gecko
Sand boa (Eryx jayakari)
Desert monitor
Al Dhiad, ōThe Empty quarterö, habitat of Echis carinates sochureki (Sindh saw scale viper)
At the endangered breeding centre in Sharjah we had a once in a life time opportunity to have a close encounter with a very rare and endangered Arabian leopard cub. ItĘs estimated that only 200 remaining individuals are still surviving in the wild. We landed in snow covered Gatwick and seeing all hopes of finding any resemblance of a reptile going down the drain with the sudden urge to return to
Woodland stream close Llanwrwda in the
Llyn teifi near Pontrhydfendigaid in the
Tony with his beloved Landrover in Surrey, our herping grounds for the next few daysąwhere Tony knows almost every individual adder, with the exception of the new off spring in the last four years. Chobham,
Of to
Reptiles from Isle of Purbeck at Hartland and Furzebrook:
Adder (Vipera berus)
Slow worm (Anguis fragilis)
Common lizard (Zootoca vivipara)
Sand lizard (Lacerta agilis) Male
Sand lizard Female
Grass snake (Natrix natrix) From Dorset we travelled to the
While in Brockenhurst we popped in at the local pub called The Snakecatcher to celebrate our successful herping trip in a typical snake man style.
On route, we stopped at the New Forest Reptile Centre. An educational centre dedicated to native reptiles.
Back in Chobham (
Female adder
Juv. adder.
Adders mating
Female adder and hatchling basking.
Grass snake. While walking and watching the adders, my eye caught a big ball of snakes slithering of and I just managed to get a few not so good shots of a mating ball of grass snakes.
After three weeks in the UK, I leave with happy memories after being able to have seen all six reptile species including BritainĘs rarest snake, |
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tim hamlett Senior Member Joined: 17 Dec 2006 No. of posts: 572  View other posts by tim hamlett |
Posted: 01 May 2008 wow...some trip guys! fantastic pictures and stories. really enjoyed seeing them. tim |
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Alan Hyde Senior Member Joined: 17 Apr 2003 No. of posts: 1416 View other posts by Alan Hyde |
Posted: 01 May 2008 Excellent stuff Johannes, i'm pleased you enjoyed yourself , but sorry I didn't get the chance to meet you All the best, Al O-> O+> |
- Herping trip to UAE |
Arabian horned viper (horned and not horned)
