Snakes spend the winter
in hibernation, and come out to feed and breed in the spring, slowing
down again in the heat of high summer. They are frightened of people
and will only attack in self defense. Most snakes in Cyprus are
non-venomous, and only one of these venomous snakes; the blunt-nosed
viper, can be dangerous to man. The other two venomous snakes of the
island are the slender cat snake and the Montpellier snake, but their
bites are only fatal to small animals such as mice, birds and lizards.
We use a liquid chemical to repel snakes from your premises, and we also offer a non chemical repellent as an option.
The Blunt Nosed Viper (Vipera Lebetina) is a dangerous, highly
venomous viper. A thick-bodied snake, varying in colour with a yellow
and
horn-like tail-end. It inhabits rocky bushland and hillsides near
streams. It will only attack in defence. If it
is disturbed, it will hiss loudly and can attack rapidly. This snake's
bite is especially dangerous because when it bites, its teeth are left
behind, and large amounts of venom
are continously pumped into the wound. You can distinguish this snake from other snakes by it's blunt nose.
Blunt Nosed Viper
Montpellier Snake
The
Montpellier Snake (Malpolon monspessu lanus) is a poisonous snake.
Its venom is not normally dangerous to man, but can cause painful local
swelling and a headache. It can grow to two metres and lives in terrain
with short grass and undergrowth and feeds on mainly lizards.
The Cat Snake
(Telescopus fallax)
grows up to a meter in length. They hunt lizards and other small
animals at night, living near streams and swamps. They sleep in burrows
during the day. This yellow-brown, black-dotted
snake uses small amounts of venom to subdue its prey, but isn't
dangerous to man as it is rear-fanged and does not possess the ability to deliver the venom into our flesh.
Cat Snake
Large Whip Snake
Two common non-venomous snakes of Cyprus are the Coin Snake, a pale brown snake with dark brown diamond-shaped markings along its
back, and the Large Whip Snake,
which is the longest snake in Europe, growing up to 2 meters in length.
Brown in colour for the first three years of its life, this snake then
turns dark black.
