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I saw this viper when I was guiding a group in Cyprus. We were hiking a trail in the Turkish part when suddenly we saw this Macrovipera lebetina lebetina. It lay in a small stream caused by a leaking waterpipe next to the rocky path. It was probably cooling itself and waiting for prey to approach.

The snake was +/- 1,5 meters and seemed to me that it just ate something. It did not move at all so some people thought it was dead. I recognised it was some sort of viper and remembered from an expo about venom in the Natural History Museum in Brussels that vipers had a mean venom that causes cell damage. I also learned there venom is something hard to make for animals and they do not like to waste it.

I was extremely euphoric by seeing such an amazing and endangered animal up close. When we wanted to take some pictures I told the group we should not circle the snake but give it some space so it could flee. When it would feel cornered it would certainly strike and in the poor Turkish Part of Cyprus you can not find antivenom. When I was taking these amazing pictures (probably a little bit too close) with my cellphone the snake suddenly jumped lightning fast through the free space we left it. In a split second he was gone. It was so fast it would have been impossible to withdraw if the snake decided to attack.

After our hike we told some locals our story. First they were laughing because 9 of the 10 snake species in Cyprus are harmless for people and they tought we were some exaggerating tourists. When we showed them the pictures they were really shocked. We never gave the location because we were afraid they would try to kill the snake.