Favoritos de johnny_b

A mating pair of these snakes was observed today while at a dog shelter/rescue just outside of Beirut. Habitat is grassy with shrubs in a dry environment. Temperature was around 20-22 C.

Two attempts were made to relocate the couple away from the area near the dog kennels. The first failed as the snakes were too entwined with each other and the vegetation. The second attempt was made after copulation and we could capture one - the second of the pair escaped into the grass. The captured snake was moved a couple hundred meters down the road and released into a similar habitat.

Snakes each appeared to be around 70-90 cm long (estimate only).

A short video clip of the mating encounter can be seen here:
https://youtu.be/gX6Jf8rW2h8

A individual seal spotted from shore in the heart of Beirut. The individual appears to be young according to coloration, but appeared fairly large ~1.5m. I spotted the seal thanks Claudia Pogoreutz (@CloudyPogoreutz). With ~ 700 individuals remaining, this species is highly endangered. To our knowledge Lebanon is not home to any larger seal population, but sightings appear to have increased in the last years.