Tag Archives: reptile

Chameleon on Grapevine

June 26, 2014natureanimal, beautiful, chameleon, climbing, creature, critter, cyprus, grape leaf, grapes, green, lizard, majestic, mountains, photography, reptile, vine, wildlifeDaniel Unedo

In the process of shedding its old skin right outside my front door.

Juvenile Blunt Nosed Viper Paid Me a Visit

June 25, 2014natureanimal, cyprus, nocturnal, poisonous, reptile, snake, venom, venomous, wild, wildlifeDaniel Unedo

Rescued from my cat and relocated. The only endemic deadly snake on the island, one of the many nocturnal animals that visits my ponds after dark. He would have kept coming back until either he or one of my dogs or cats were dead, so I had to catch him (wasn’t hard since my cat had him cornered) and release him deeper into the forest. Wheezed, hissed, self-inflated and tried to strike me the whole time I had him in the bucket, pretty tough for a baby.

Simple Living: Pond Swirl Filter, Feeding Koi, Releasing Geckos, Using Rocks, Aquaponics

In this instalment, I work on improving the food pond by adding a DIY swirl filter made from a dustbin / trashcan and a simple gravel filter / growbed for kangkong, watercress and other plants that don’t mind being constantly flooded. There’s still room to expand with more beds in the future, as well as floating island planters. The medium for the growbed is volcanic rock gravel from my land. The swirl filter uses a modified laundry basket lid at the bottom, and although I forgot to show it in the video, there is a T connector at the end of the hose under the laundry basket lid to send the water in two diferent directions.

I also show off a quick bench I made out of a pallet, some uses for rocks including simple terracing, and I release some geckos into the house for pest control.