Wildlife

Flora
Cypresses - particularly busom and italianate - flatter the landscape together with ostrya oak, silver poplar and eucalyptus trees. Of course, there are the olives which are enormous: some are nearly five hundred years old. Plenty of wild flowers are to be seen of which the well known golden blooms, yellow spurge, blue thistles and white. asphodel prevail in late Spring. Corfu is graced with regions of orange and lemon trees, acacia, myrtle, wisteria, oleander and grape arbours with clusters of roses all with a glorious aroma. This remarkable vegetation is due to its rainfall which is the highest in Greece, making it the greenest and the prettiest of Greece's 1425 islands.

Birds
Golden Orioles, Blackbirds and Hoopoes are quite common on the island. Waders and herons are mainly restricted to the salt-pans (Koirissia and Andinioei), but not uncommon in the Ropa Valley as well as Black-winged stilts. Summer Kingfishers are a delight to see. Kestrals and Buzzards are the commonest birds of prey, but Golden and other eagles are not rare and can often be seen in the vast expanses of the Ropa Valley area. It is possible to see the Griffon Vulture in the mountain regions. Jays, Ravens and Magpies are in abundance as well as a lot of garden birds common in western Europe.

Animals
The most likely wild animals you would see are foxes, hares, bats, seals and small rodents of various sorts. In Spring you will come across tortoises in the undergrowth and frogs and terrapins in the most perennial pools. Lizards of various sorts - especially the large green ones rustle in the undergrowth as well as a variety of snakes. There seems to be two varieties of viper, called Okhia and Saprokhia, the first like an English adder, the second more brightly coloured. There is a long thin snake called Saitas (arrow) which if disturbed in the breeding season will launch itself at you. It is not poisonous but it is the only snake in the world known to have teeth on both its upper and lower jaws. Then there is a large, polished brown snake (possibly a Scincoid Lizard) called Tiflitas or blind one which is harmless.

Scorpions and centipedes are seldom seen; but insects cicadas, fireflies and of course the dreaded mosquitoes frequently make their homes here. Fireflies are at their densest in May, filling the park lands and olive groves.