Fauna

The dice snake (scient. Natrix tessellata) is a kind of water snake, which occurs frequently in the permanent wetlands, the sea shores and rock pools of Crete. Many Cretans call it as water snake, but this name actually belongs to the relative species of Natrix natrix, which is absent from the island. Finally there is the suspicion that the dice snake of Crete belongs to a separate species, but it hasn’t been confirmed yet.

The Common Bottlenose Dolphin (scient. Tursiops truncates) is a common species in Greek waters, widespread throughout the world. It is often found near the coasts of Crete, even very close to the shore, forming groups of up to 100 individuals. On the other hand, meeting that in the open sea is very rare. It is named bottlenose due to the animal having a short rounded snout that looks like a bottle.

The golden eagle (scient. Aquila chrysaetos) is the most dominant bird of prey in Europe, having a wingspan of 185-220cm and a body length of 75-90cm. Unfortunately, the species in Greece is endangered, with only a few pairs left, mostly in Crete.

The griffon vulture (scient. Gyps fulvus) or vulture is a large, heavy raptor with a wingspan of 260cm and a body length of 97-104cm. In Crete, it is found in large numbers in almost all areas of the island.

The proud Cretan wild goat (scient. Capra aegagrus creticus), also known as agrimi, wild goat, or Cretan Ibex is an endemic subspecies of wild goat, is the only species of ibex in Europe. According to the genetic characteristics, the wild goat was introduced in Crete from Asia and then came to contact with the ordinary goats on the island, while retaining many of the genetic characteristic of its Asian cousins.

The cat snake (scient. Telescopus fallax) is the only snake in Crete with venom. However, the poison is too weak to hurt humans and is excreted in the back of its mouth, making it actually harmless. The snake feeds on small lizards and uses the poison for relaxing their bodies.

Rodents is the second largest group of mammals in Crete, after bats. Apart from the hedgehogs, the dormice, the Cretan spiny mice, which have beed described in different articles, Crete hosts the countryside wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus), the broad-toothed field mice (Apodemus mystacinus), the cityside house mice (Mus musculus), the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) and the black rat (Rattus rattus). Let’s look at them.

The Cretan stone marten (scient. Martes foina bunites) is a nice mammal, arboreous, night owl, carnivorous and fruit-eater that lives alone (except for the mating season) in rock fissures, in tree hollows, in raptors’ abandoned nests, in desert underground galleries, in sparse forests, in bushy places and in gorges.