NOVA CONTROL, PROFESSIONALS SPECIALIZED IN CAPTURE AND CONTROL OF SNAKES IN IBIZA AND FORMENTERA
This morning, during some field work to monitor wildlife by our Wildlife Control and Environmental Services department (Nova Falcons), two of our technicians have manually captured 2 juvenile horseshoe whip snake (Hemorrhois hippocrepis); both at different points in the area where work was being done. These works were being carried out at sea level in an area of the coast of the municipality of Santa Eulalia, and had nothing to do with snake control, so the capture method has been manual, and completely fortuitous. However, this same month, in one of the snake control services that we keep active throughout the year, we have carried out a trap, which in our opinion shows that today's case is not something anomalous.
Photo of the two juvenile horseshoe whip snakes captured this morning.
For no one who is residing in Ibiza or Formentera, the unusual heat that we are having at this time will be going unnoticed, with a winter that should hardly be called winter. These atypically high temperatures, among many other consequences, are having the effect of greater activity in cold-blooded animals, such as snakes.
Sacrificing snakes is a drama, the image that accompanies this entry is not pleasant to see, but at the same time, it reflects the harshness of a very serious environmental problem. The uncontrolled proliferation of invasive snakes in Ibiza and Formentera for more than a decade, accompanied by a late and timid reaction on the part of the administration, brings us to the current point. That is, to have a generalist invasive predator proliferating throughout the island of Ibiza, without recognized natural predators that can serve as a counterweight and without scientific evidence that its population is decreasing. All this, at the same time, its spread and naturalization is confirmed in areas where theoretically the density is lower, such as Sant Antoni, Ses Salines or part of the islets that surround the islands of Ibiza and Formentera.
The plague of snakes in Ibiza and Formentera, according to scientific evidence, is having a serious impact on the ecosystem, to the point that it is likely that it could end up extinct species, such as the Pitiusas lizard (Podarcis pityusensis) or seriously affect notably to the populations of small mammals, beetles and even birds. Its impact on birdlife can be greater, especially in those that make their nests on the ground, and especially those that make their nests on smaller islets: the eggs are part of the natural diet of adult snake specimens, the same as small birds (sparrows, warblers, chiffchaffs...even bats); in addition to half-developed chicks of larger species (which means that clutches of larger birds are not free from being affected either).
Our biologist, Lara Abascal, extracting a half-digested specimen of the Pitiusas lizard from the stomach of a horseshoe snake captured during one of our snake control services in Ibiza. The photo is part of the study of the diet that we carry out in a self-financed way, with the sole purpose of contributing to continue collecting information and data on this important aspect of an invasive species, which is seriously threatening the ecosystems of Ibiza and Formentera.
As a matter of fact, during the wildlife tracking day that we were carrying out this morning, and although it was not the purpose of the day, we counted the number of lizards that were detected: only 1 specimen was detected. Obviously, here we are not talking about a census as such, but it is certainly significant that we have seen and captured, without being our objective, more invasive snakes than endemic lizards.
At Nova Falcons - Nova Control, we are specialized in the control and capture of invasive snakes. We are the company in Ibiza that has delved the most into this type of service, and that has carried out the most work without strictly commercial purposes in relation to the problem with invasive snakes. Part of this translates into several informative entries that are available in the Divulgation section of the Nova Falcons website, and which we leave available to you in this same entry.
Text: own elaboration.
Find out more:
- https://www.novafalcons.com/en/blog/35-snakes-on-ibiza-and-formentera-part-i
- https://www.novafalcons.com/en/blog/36-snake-control-in-ibiza-and-formentera-part-ii
- https://www.novafalcons.com/en/blog/49-notes-on-snake-control-in-ibiza-and-formentera-1-3
- https://www.novafalcons.com/en/blog/50-notes-on-snake-control-in-ibiza-and-formentera-2-3
- https://www.novafalcons.com/en/blog/51-notes-on-snake-control-in-ibiza-and-formentera-3-3
-https://novacontrol.es/en/works-and-data-of-interest/snake-catching-in-ibiza-and-formentera
Nova control; control of pests and microorganisms in Ibiza and Formentera.
-Wasps, ants, mosquitoes, rodents, cockroaches, moths, snakes...
-Wood treatments: woodworm, termites, fungus...
-Disinfections: covid, tanks, legionella treatment and control.
Consult other services without obligation
☎️: +34 604 04 82 98
🇪🇸: https://novacontrol.es/es/control-de-plagas
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