as I see here is some interest in european vipers, so I want to show you one of the maybe rarest vipers, or at least one that's really hard to find^^
Last year we were invited to join some hungarian friends, who are working on meadow vipers, to search them in the Puszta, pannonian steppe.
So were lucky, as it's not easy to get the permission and you just don't know where to start searching for them...
Vast meadows, almost without any structure and lots of mice-/rat holes, so it's good to have some experienced people around you, and more eyes spot more herps of course.
So it was a great experience to be on the "hunt" with these guys, great people, as most herpers I've met from/in various countries.
We arrived in the middle of nowhere in a huge national park in central hungary.
A varied landscape, with many different habitats...

Puszta von markusOulehla auf Flickr

markusOulehla auf Flickr

markusOulehla auf Flickr

markusOulehla auf Flickr
grasshoppers, crickets and lizards everywhere...

european green lizard von markusOulehla auf Flickr
some quite confident


markusOulehla auf Flickr
Parts of the area had been destroyed by a fire a few months ago, but nature recovers...

markusOulehla auf Flickr

markusOulehla auf Flickr

european green lizard von markusOulehla auf Flickr
On the sandy hills we found Podarcis tauricus

balkan wall lizard von markusOulehla auf Flickr

markusOulehla auf Flickr
also quite common in the sandy areas

markusOulehla auf Flickr

Myrmeleontidae von markusOulehla auf Flickr

markusOulehla auf Flickr
Although it's a very dry area, we came along some tiny and one bigger pond...

markusOulehla auf Flickr

fire-bellied toad von markusOulehla auf Flickr
Back on the meadow...

Puszta von markusOulehla auf Flickr
...lots of lizards again...

european green lizard von markusOulehla auf Flickr

sand lizard von markusOulehla auf Flickr
... and some cool arthropods


Saga pedo von markusOulehla auf Flickr

Cheiracanthium erraticum von markusOulehla auf Flickr
Suprisingly in the middle of the plains, european pond turtle quite far away from the ponds...

markusOulehla auf Flickr
obviously she wanted to lay her eggs, so we moved on


markusOulehla auf Flickr
After some hours of searching, we were rewarded with this little beauty


hungarian meadow viper von markusOulehla auf Flickr

markusOulehla auf Flickr

markusOulehla auf Flickr

markusOulehla auf Flickr
We also found grass snakes (Natrix natrix persa, I think?!) in the grassland...

markusOulehla auf Flickr
After a rainy evening we saw some Pelobates fuscus

common spadefoot von markusOulehla auf Flickr

common spadefoot von markusOulehla auf Flickr
On our way back we stopped at another place, a little north to search for some arthropods...
jackpot!!! a spider-hole

markusOulehla auf Flickr
and its owner

Geolycosa vultuosa von markusOulehla auf Flickr

Geolycosa vultuosa von markusOulehla auf Flickr

markusOulehla auf Flickr
one of the nicest salticids in europe

Philaeus chrysops von markusOulehla auf Flickr
Lucanus cervus

stag beetle von markusOulehla auf Flickr
and some lizards (of course


european green lizard von markusOulehla auf Flickr
It was a wonderful weekend and I hope you enjoy the pictures

regards
Markus