Wildlife - The Rough Guide to Greece - page 789

Reptiles and amphibians
Reptiles flourish in the hot dry summers of Greece, the commonest being lizards . Most
of these are small, agile and wary, rarely staying around for closer inspection. They're
usually brown to grey, subtly spotted, striped or tessellated, though in adult males the
undersides are sometimes brilliant orange, green or blue. The more robust green lizards,
with long whip-like tails, can be 50cm or more in length, but are equally shy and
fast-moving unless distracted by territorial disputes with each other.
Nocturnal geckos are large-eyed, short-tailed lizards. Their spreading toes have claws
and ingenious adhesive pads, allowing them to cross house walls and ceilings in their
search for insects, including mosquitoes. The rare chameleon is a slow-moving, swivel-
eyed inhabitant of eastern Crete, Yiálova and some eastern Aegean islands such as Sámos.
Essentially green, it has the ability to adjust its coloration to match the surroundings.
Once collected for the pet trade, tortoises can be found on much of the mainland, and
some islands, though not Crete. Usually their noisy progress through hillside scrub
vegetation is the first signal of their presence, as they spend their often long lives grazing
the vegetation. Closely related terrapins are more streamlined, freshwater tortoises that
love to bask on waterside mud by streams or ponds. Usually only seen as they disappear
under water, their numbers have recently declined steeply on many islands.
Sea turtles occur mostly in the Ionian Sea, but also in the Aegean. The least rare are
the loggerhead turtles ( Caretta caretta ), which nest on Zákynthos and Kefaloniá, the
Peloponnese, and occasionally in Crete. Their nesting grounds are disappearing under
tourist resorts, although they are a protected endangered species (see p.753).
Snakes are abundant in Greece and many islands; most are shy and non-venomous.
Several species, including the Ottoman and nose-horned vipers, do have a venomous
bite, though they are not usually aggressive; they are adder-like and often have a very
distinct, dark zigzag stripe down the back. Snakes are only likely to bite if a hand is put
in the crevice of a wall or a rock-face where one of them is resting. Leave them alone,
and they will do the same for you, but if bitten, seek immediate treatment (see p.43).
Most snakes are not only completely harmless to humans but beneficial since they keep
down populations of pests such as rats and mice.
Frogs and toads are the commonest and most obvious amphibians throughout much
of Greece, particularly during the spring breeding season. Frogs prefer the wettest
places, and the robust marsh frog revels in artificial water-storage ponds, whose
concrete sides magnify their croaking impressively. Tree frogs are tiny emerald-green
jewels, with huge and strident voices at night, sometimes found in quantity on the
leaves of waterside oleanders.
TOURISM AND THREATS TO WILDLIFE
Since the 1970s, tourist developments have ribboned along coastlines , sweeping away both
agricultural plots and wildlife havens as they do so. These expanding resorts increase local
employment, often attracting inland workers to the coast; the generation that would once
have herded sheep on remote hillsides now works in tourist bars and tavernas. Consequently,
the pressure of domestic animal grazing, particularly in the larger islands, has been significantly
reduced, allowing the regeneration of tree seedlings; Crete, for example, has more woodland
now than at any time in the last five centuries. However, forest ires remain a threat
everywhere. Since 1980 blazes have destroyed much of the tree cover in Thássos, southern
Rhodes, Kárpathos, Híos, Sámos and parts of the Peloponnese; the trees may well regenerate
eventually, but by then the complex shade-dependent ecology is irrecoverably lost.
In the mainland interior, increasing demand for power brings huge hydroelectric schemes
to remote rivers and gorges with little chance for opposition to be heard. Even the Orthodox
Church , whose lands once often provided wildlife with a refuge from hunters, now looks to
capitalize on their value for major tourist developments. In the north, the forests of sacred
Mount Áthos are being surrendered to commercial logging. On the bright side, the Kárla
marsh-lake near Vólos is being allowed to partially refill again, to the delight of migratory birds.