Filenews 16 August 2021 - by Pavlos Neophytou
An interesting and unknown story, one of the many of his adventurous life, was shared with us by the "father" of the research and protection of the reptiles of Cyprus, Hans - George Vidle or else – as many know him – SnakeGeorge and Fido-George. In our conversation, the researcher first touched on a large chapter about people's relationship with snakes, and specifically their fear of them, talking about the role played in it by the Christian religion and the biblical connection of the snake with Satan and evil. However, he confesses that in 2006 he saw a step of "reconciliation" between church and reptiles, when the abbot council of the Monastery of St. Neophytos decided to support his monastic and quixotic efforts at the time to protect the endangered Cypriot water snake (Natrix natrix cypriaca), which he himself had identified and identified in 1992 (initially in Lake Xyliatos and later in Paralimni Lake), when everything seemed to have disappeared for more than forty years.
"It was a time when I was looking for a new home for the ''Snake George's Reptile Park'', which I had been keeping since 1996 in Pegeia, because the owner of the land informed me that I would soon have to leave and move it elsewhere," says George Snake.
"Until then I had managed to rescue and reproduce the Cypriot waterfield(Natrix natrix cypriaca),which was about to disappear. Since this was extremely important, I knew that I did not have to stop my fight, and I had to find a new place to protect reptiles. After many attempts to find a new place for my park, in 2006 I came into contact with the Monastery of Agios Neophytos in Paphos.
They had agreed to grant me for rent with a very low annual amount, a plot of land of 2670 square metres in the community of Tala, for the creation of a new herpetological park. In fact, we had concluded an agreement on this. Then the ''victory'' for me was that the monastery had decided to support me morally and to appoint Saint Neophytos as the ''patron saint of the Cypriot waterfida''", says the researcher.
In a letter from the Monastery to SnakeGeorge, it is stated that "the Abbot Council of our Monastery in a session dated 13/02/2006 decided to morally support your effort and to place under the protection of St. Neophytos the divine creation of water snake(Natrix natrix cypriaca)which is seriously threatened by extinction. For this purpose, the Monastery granted us a piece of land for the creation of a herpetological park where all reptiles would be accommodated, but mainly protection would be offered to the waterfine with the aim of its multiplication and release to other areas.
Today SnakeGeorge states that "the Church's decision to do this made me very happy, since the serpent is presented in our religion as the devil and is associated with evil. I was happy, because such a move would help people to slowly change their minds."
The agreement did not materialise
Finally, after a decision of the Monastery, the agreement for the new reptile park was not implemented. As it turned out, people's fear once again worked negatively for snakes. Speaking on behalf of the Monastery in philenews, accountant Lucas Heracleous explained that it was then that the residents of the community of Tala reacted strongly, where the park would be created. They were afraid of snakes and the possibility of their escape from the park. According to Mr. Heracleous, the residents collected signatures of protest, which would be sent to the District Administration. Considering the reactions and noise they began to create, the Monastery did not want to proceed with the park project. For his part, SnakeGeorge reports today that "although we had the agreement, the architectural plans and I had paid that year a lot of money to start this important project for me, but also for the fauna of Cyprus (especially for the Cypriot water snake), once again this project collapsed".
The work in the foreign press
It is worth noting that this promising collaboration was published in the foreign press, such as in newspapers in Germany, Austria and the Middle East, which were following Snake George's work on the reptiles of Cyprus. Indicatively, on March 10, 2006, the English-language daily newspaper of Dubai (United Arab Emirates) wrote: "The church and a biblical symbol of evil were reconciled. A triumph for a former UN peacekeeper who became an ecological warrior and fights to save a species of snake from extinction. On the Mediterranean island, the Greek Orthodox monastery of St. Neophytos gave its blessing to the mission of the snake guru Hans - George Vidl. The monastery stated that it has decided to ''morally support'' the work of the Austrian herpetologist and to designate Neophytos as the ''patron saint of the Cypriote waterfidos''(Natrix natrix cypriaca),a harmless but endangered species. Specifically, it grants about 2,000 square meters of land for Vidl, in order to create a herpetological park to reproduce the Cypriote waterfin and release it to other wilderness areas. For Vidtle, the support of the Church is a recognition of his ten-year struggles for official recognition of his work for the snakes of Cyprus..."
It is human to protect them
SnakeGeorge today says that the Church's desire to help save a snake is something very natural. "We are Christians and we believe that fauna and flora were created by God as God created people. It is only human to protect and respect what we have in nature. Or are we not human?" he says. "Since the Garden of Eden, mentioned in the Old Testament, the serpent has been regarded as a symbol of Satan. God announced a curse when He said to the serpent in Eden: ''with your belly you shall go forth and eat all the days of your life,'' associating it with original sin. After all, here in Cyprus we also have the myth of St. Helena, who wants her to bring the kittens to the island to exterminate the snakes. All this, unfortunately, has contributed to the creation and perpetuation in humans of the feeling of fear of snakes, with the consequent fury of their extermination. All my life I have been trying to learn about wildlife. I like to observe in nature, because I respect it a lot. I want people to feel what I felt too. I was in the jungles of South America, Africa and Asia and I learned from the locals that you should never kill more than you need to survive. For modern society, nothing is ever enough..."
Who is SnakeGeorge
Well-known expert herpetologist and former UN peacekeeper in Cyprus (1973-74). He was honored by the famous Swiss company ROLEX in 1993 for the search and rescue of Cypriot reptiles, while he was awarded by the Austrian President the "Cross of Honor for Science and Art" in 1998, for his contribution to the protection and preservation of Cypriot Reptiles and Amphibians.
He was, after all, the first to discover that the Cypriot finch lays eggs and not alive, overturning the perception that prevailed since 1758 when the Cypriot viper (finch) was recognized and identified by Charles Linnaeus. Also in Lake Xyliatos he found again the Cypriot endemic snake Natrix natrix cypriaca,which had been considered extinct for almost 40 years.
He has written many articles about reptiles and amphibians. He is the author of "The Snakes of Cyprus" which was translated into four languages, co-author of "The Amphibians and Reptiles of Cyprus" and co-founder of the Cyprus Herpetological Group.
During the period 1996-2010 he directed the "Snake George's Reptile Park" in Pegeia, Paphos, where he had visitors from all over the world. There he daily observed and recorded the behavior of Cypriot snakes (this was helped by the fact that the park offered reptiles living conditions that did not differ from their natural environment), such as the birth of eggs from the finnier, mentioned above. He gave many speeches on the importance of our reptilian fauna, in order to sensitize the public for the protection of reptiles and amphibians of Cyprus and to eliminate the prejudice towards snakes. When asked how he manages to track down snakes, SnakeGeorge responds with a smile: "They're usually looking for me."
The "Blackhead" is the ninth snake of Cyprus
Recently, after about 35 years of experience in the study of Cypriot reptiles, the Austrian permanent resident of Cyprus saw himself reaching yet another achievement, which is the discovery of the ninth snake of Cyprus, the Rhynchocalamus melanocephalus.
The first snake discovered it in 2013, followed by a second specimen found in 2017. Five years after the first discovery, SnakeGeorge spotted a new specimen in 2018. All the specimens were young individuals with the third being the smallest in size, leading him to the conclusion that they can reproduce. As he explains, he then had to arrange for the species to be identified genetically. So he collaborated with a well-known scientific team of the Department of Zoology at the University of Israel, who among other things carried out DNA analysis on the samples found in Cyprus. The discovery of the ninth snake of Cyprus and the methodology of its identification were officially published in the scientific journal "Zoology in the Middle East". This discovery, snakegeorge points out, proves once again how rich our island is in biodiversity, despite its size. He is sure that more snakes of the species will be found later, stressing that no doubt further research is needed for its population.
Secretive and shy
As he informs us, the non-venomous snake, whose small size reaches up to about 40-45 cm long, belongs to the family Colubridae, like the common therco (black snake). The dispersion of the species is found in most neighbouring countries of Cyprus that have similarities in its climate and habitat. In the eastern zone it is commonly known as a black-headed snake, due to the characteristic colour of its head. As for its behaviour, it has been characterized as secretive and shy, it feeds mainly on larvae and small insects, while it lives in inaccessible stony areas.
