Crete, Land of Origins:
Stays offered by a collective of Cretan companies,
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Discovery of UNIQUE Crete, the real one.
Wildlife in Crete
Fossilized bones of hippos and dwarf elephants found in Crete attest to a very ancient animal presence ...
Even today, a fairly large number of small wild mammals, such as the badger (Meles-meles acalus), the weasel (Musteila nivalis galinthias) and the weasel (Martes foina bunites) intersect quite easily on the island._cc781905 -5cde-3194-bb3b-136bad5cf58d_ In recent years, we can note the reappearance of the wild cat (Felix silvestris), a species that was thought to be extinct.
There are no poisonous snakes in Crete. stones.
There are also small Aegean lizards or wall lizards (Podarchis erhardit) quite often, unlike the species of green lizard (Lacerta trilineata) which is rarer.
Only 4 species of amphibians are found in Crete (the green toad, the American toad, the lake frog, the Cretan frog), 15 species of reptiles and 34 species of mammals. Striped water turtles, or clemids, are numerous, even in periods of high drought. The caretta caretta turtle is a deep-sea species, and comes to lay eggs in Crete during the breeding season (June/July), on the northern coasts (Rethymno, Chania). They are protected by the local population.
The Mauritanian Taranto (which looks like the gecko) is found in abundance, on rocks, walls, dry stones ... and enters houses. The green three-striped lizard often appears in gardens, olive groves and bushes. We also often come across hedgehogs, (nesiotes), at a relatively low altitude, in the vicinity of hamlets.
In the old houses, you can come across the Blasius horseshoe bat caves: a species of bat rare in Europe. Bats are an endangered species, and yet they are very useful.
The long presence of man has certainly contributed to the formation of the current fauna: disappearance of deer and introduction of field rats, wild rabbits and the famous and emblematic AGRIMI (wild goat)._cc781905-5cde-3194- bb3b-136bad5cf58d_
theNatural History Museum of Creteis particularly well referenced for all this.
Tree branches are frequented by the microscopic tree frog (Hyla arborea cretensis), while toads (bufo-bufo) prefer moist places.
The beaches in the north of the island, now protected by many volunteers every year, are visited by the loggerhead turtle (caretta caretta) which comes to lay its eggs there.
Small birds, all year round, such as sparrows and goldfinches (Carduelis) or black sailors (Apus apus), finches (Fringila coelembs) or robins (Erithacus rubecula).
There are also partridges (Alectoris chucar) and crows (Corvus corone). Huge kestrels (Falco tinnunculus) and buzzards (Buteo buteao) hover very often above cultivated fields.