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Cyprus Grass Snakes Were Detected Mainly After Sunset in Summer Surveys

Grass snake coiled in shallow water
Research · Behaviour

Grass snakes of the Cyprus population (Natrix natrix moreotica) were detected mainly during evening surveys in a 2023 study of the vulnerable lowland population around Paralimni and Ayia Napa. The study, published on 18 March 2026, recorded 18 individual snakes, 13 of them during evening surveys and five during morning surveys.

A transect is a predefined line or route used to survey an area systematically, with observations, signs or sampling points recorded along it.

The researchers first mapped 52 possible transects and selected the 20 most promising for repeated monitoring between March and October. Seventeen transects were around Paralimni and three near Ayia Napa. In total, the team conducted 52 morning transect surveys between 06:00 and 13:00 and 14 evening surveys between 17:00 and 23:00.

Most sightings came between 19:00 and 22:00

Evening searches produced roughly ten times as many snake observations per day of survey effort as morning searches. Most observations were made between 19:00 and 22:00, around and after sunset. Evening observations included snakes swimming, hunting and moving in and out of the water.

The authors conclude that Cyprus grass snakes in the lowlands adopt a nocturnal activity strategy during summer. They suggest that several factors may contribute: daytime heat and aridity can constrain thermoregulation, amphibian prey are more active around dusk, and evening activity may reduce exposure to diurnal predators and human disturbance. The scarcity of records from this population may therefore partly reflect the methods traditionally used to search for the snakes, rather than only the species’ elusiveness.

The comparison had an important limitation

The researchers note that the study did not use morning and evening surveys equally throughout the season. The first part of the field period was spent assessing possible sites, and evening transects were introduced only later in the summer. They therefore recommend that future monitoring use standardised nocturnal surveys to test the pattern more systematically.

A fragmented population under pressure

Snake presence was recorded on only four of the 20 repeatedly surveyed transects. The lowland population occupies a highly urbanised and fragmented landscape, with pressures including water extraction, drought, roads, fences, agriculture, hunters and tourism. The authors point out that these barriers can also restrict movements between suitable water bodies.

Sources and image credit

  1. Stamatiou, M., Pishilis, G., Stark, T., & Zotos, S. (2026). Population size and nocturnal activity of Cyprus Grass Snakes, Natrix natrix moreotica (Bedriaga, 1882), in an arid island environment. Herpetology Notes, 19, 177–187.Primary peer-reviewed study published 18 March 2026. Twenty selected lowland transects around Paralimni and Ayia Napa were monitored in 2023; 18 individual grass snakes were recorded, 13 during evening surveys and five during morning surveys. Most sightings occurred between 19:00 and 22:00, and the authors recommend standardised nocturnal monitoring.

Image: Fafner — grass snake (Natrix natrix) in Ephesus, Turkey, photographed 15 November 2004; Wikimedia Commons; representative image, not a snake from the Cyprus study · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source

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