Interview with Mario Schweiger

Question:
Mario, for many years I have been hearing the most fantastical stories about the Vipera lebetina on Milos. The stories from many of the locals, for instance two-metre long snakes that can jump a distance of five metres etc. surpass by a long way what I have seen with my own eyes. How big does this viper actually grow?

Mario Schweiger:
The known maximum length is about 110 cm, but they normally grow to between 50 and 70 cm.

Question:
And how far can a snake of this size jump? Can we even speak of “jumping”?

Mario Schweiger:
For physiological and morphological reasons it cannot jump or pounce on anyone. The distance from which a viper might be able to strike corresponds at most to its body length but more usually to about 50% of its body length. A Macrovipera schweizeri can at most bite you from a distance of 70 cm.

Question:
Many people who live outside the villages fear that snakes could wander into their houses. I know people who have enclosed the entire house, including the terrace, with a wall for this reason. The whole wall is built rather tall so you can only reach the house via a flight of steps. Can a viper climb normal steps?

Mario Schweiger:
A viper can climb a vertical surface equivalent to about 3/4 of its body length. One precondition is that the ground below is rough enough to allow it some grip, for example concrete, and especially in corners. So normal flights of steps are no obstacle if the snake makes the effort. If you have a house in an area where there are snakes, you should avoid leaving anything lying around that might attract mice or provide snakes with a refuge. Macrovipera schweizeri would also feel at home there.

Question:
You always say Macrovipera schweizeri. I know this snake by the name of Vipera lebetina or Vipera lebetina schweizeri. Which one’s right? Is it a viper or is a “Macroviper” something different?

Mario Schweiger:
The official name has been Macrovipera schweizeri for many years. On the designation Macrovipera: The true vipers consist of a few genera, for example Bitis (puff adder, Bitis arietans), Daboia (Russell’s viper, Daboia russelli), Cerastes (Saharan horned viper, Cerastes cerastes) etc. In 1992, on the basis of biochemical studies it was discovered that the large vipers, now known as Macrovipera, are only distantly related to the true vipers (common European adder, European horned viper, asp and meadow viper), so a separate genus - Macrovipera – is justified and necessary.

Question:
And “schweizeri”, is that a subspecies of “lebetina”?

Mario Schweiger:
In 1935 Franz Werner described the subspecies Vipera lebetina schweizeri within the species Vipera lebetina. But then both morphological studies (number of head and body scales) and biochemical studies (DNA) showed that the Milos viper has been isolated for at least 12 million years (that being about the age of the Milos archipelago) from the Levant viper in Asia Minor and Cyprus (the true Macrovipera lebetina) and is therefore to be regarded as a separate species. In the course of the same work, the Atlas/Moorish viper (Macrovipera mauritanica) and the Desert viper (Macrovipera desertii), which had previously been classified as subspecies of Macrovipera lebetina, were also elevated to the list of species.

Question:
So is the “lebetina” in the name now wrong?

Mario Schweiger:
Well, as I said, the scientifically correct name is Macrovipera schweizeri. But the common name, in other words the German, English or local name, can be whatever you like. In German we also say Milosviper or Milos-Levanteotter, in English Milos viper or blunt nose viper and locally it’s simply called lebetina. Lebetina comes from the word Levant, the region where this Macroviper was first described, specifically on Cyprus.

Question:
So where else are there Milos vipers apart from on Milos?

Mario Schweiger:
Apart from on Milos, they’re also on Kimolos, Polyegos and Sifnos. But not on Antimilos.

Question:
Many people holidaying on Milos have probably never come across a Milos viper. So where’s the best place to find one?

Mario Schweiger:
Milos vipers prefer the small valleys with streams called potamos that dry up or are reduced to puddles in the summer. And they like climbing up low trees and bushes, especially in the autumn, that is from the end of August to mid-November, and at night. There they lie in wait for passing or sleeping birds. So you should look carefully at branches in front of you when you are strolling along a stream bed. But you will also find vipers along and in dry stone walls beside fields.

Question:
How do I best protect myself so as not to get into conflict with a viper?

Mario Schweiger:
When you are walking through thick shrubbery, especially along stream beds, you should shake the branches a lot. Avoid bending and scrabbling through under branches without shaking the branches. There might be a viper above you that could drop on you and try to strike you. Solid hiking boots and loose-fitting jeans are also important.

Question:
If I come across a viper, what is the best thing for me to do?

Mario Schweiger:
If you come across a viper at a safe distance, in other words about 1 metre or more, just stand still. In most cases the viper will have noticed you before you see it and it will quickly crawl away. However, if it continues to lie there, walk round it slowly in a wide arc. It will not attack you. But once in a while, you might find yourself standing right in front of a viper. This mainly happens when you are working your way carefully through the area searching for something. It has often happened to me that I have put down my foot 10 to 15 cm from the head of a viper without the snake trying to bite me. If you wear hiking boots and loose-fitting jeans, you don't really need to worry about it. Here too the rule is: Keep your nerve and just stand still. If necessary, you could wave your arms about energetically or shake branches to draw an apparently sleeping snake’s attention to you. The viper will then quickly retreat and disappear into a hiding place. On no account should you try to follow the snake or to push it away. Then the snake might bite you through your jeans.

Question:
I know that about 20 snake bites are treated a year in the local hospital in Plaka. Without exception this involves people who accidentally surprise a snake when working in a field or garden and the snake then feels threatened and it strikes. Let’s stay on the issue of a bite by a Milos viper. What should you do if it happens?

Mario Schweiger:
If you get bitten, keep calm! With medical treatment within a reasonable time, in almost all cases you shouldn’t expect any long-term effects. According to the latest medical findings, most of the emergency measures described in the literature are contraindicated. You should never cut out the bite wound. Better than making a tourniquet with a belt or the like is the application of an elastic bandage from the bite wound up towards the heart. If you don't have anything suitable to hand, you should manage entirely without rather than putting a tourniquet on the limb using a belt or the like. If you are with someone else, you must send the other person for help and remain in the shade and wait for help to arrive. If you are alone and don't have a mobile phone with you either, walk slowly to the next village, from where help can be fetched. Do not drink alcohol or coffee. After medical treatment, possibly depending on any symptoms of poisoning and with serum being administered, you may very well have a swollen limb and the pain that goes with it for several days. However,

Question:
There’s still one very special point of interest to me. Perhaps you know something about it. There was allegedly once a project on Milos to reintroduce Macrovipera schweizeri. A few years ago, in the mainly uninhabited western half of the island, deliberately bred vipers were supposedly thrown from helicopters. German scientists were, it is said, heavily involved in this. Since no-one knows much about this, crazy legends have arisen here that I have heard from some – luckily only a few -  locals. The most bizarre story says that a German doctor comes back regularly and takes the snakes away in order to use them to make drugs or perhaps medicines. Do you know if there is any real basis for this?

Mario Schweiger:
It’s a horror story! Nobody’s been throwing vipers from helicopters to reintroduce them. They would die from a fall of about 10 metres! What did happen was that Swedish, not German, scientists, specifically Göran Nilson and Claes Andren in collaboration with Maria Dimaki and Giannis Ioannidis from the University of Athens carried out a tagging project including with telemetry transmitters.

Question:
That sounds a bit more likely. Thank you for your comprehensive explanations. You have cast a lot of light on the darkness of the rumours  and half-truths. Anyone who would like to hike on Milos or who might come across a Milos viper in other circumstances will definitely benefit from your explanations. I will certainly publish our conversation on my website. Would you like to give the readers one last piece of advice?

Mario Schweiger:
Gladly. Lastly, the most important thing: Do not kill vipers since they are under the strictest protection! Even venomous snakes have their place in nature. If you come across one, just stand still and enjoy this viper that you can only see here.

Mario Schweiger

Mario Schweiger is an expert on European and Mediterranean amphibians and reptiles, specialising in vipers. I held this conversation with him in summer 2009.

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