Even if you are the most ardent animal lover you might still find some of the Spanish wildlife difficult to warm to. Much of it is really best admired from afar, as getting too close can have very undesirable consequences! There are lots of differences between the living things in the UK and those in Spain and that includes both pets and wild things.
The biggest, and possibly the most dangerous we have bumped into so far is wild boar. And when I say “bumped into” I mean it literally. We were heading out for dinner one evening, after dark, and tootling along the road, doing about 60kph, not fast at all. Out of nowhere appeared a herd of wild boar, including males, females and little piglets. I had no mission of stopping in time and ran straight into them, killing one outright and scattering the rest. In total shock I phoned my lovely friend, Clare Shirley – she’s bi-lingual – who arrived very quickly. Her husband Richard helped warn on-coming traffic of the carnage on the road while Clare phoned the Guardia Civil, who also arrived very quickly. The only thing they wanted to know was if I wanted them to put the dead boar into the boot of the car so we could take it home for the freezer! Err, no thanks, even though I am partial to a bowl of wild boar casserole!
It really bothered me that I had killed one and I hoped I hadn’t injured any others. Peter went back to the scene of the crime the next day, and spotted this young one just looking round. Those wild animals can be huge and very fast moving, and can easily kill a person. I was really glad the massive thing hadn’t come up over the bonnet and through the windscreen. In fact, the damage to the front of my car was minimal, and only cost €35 to sort. A bit of a miracle! I was so glad of my friend Clare’s help that night, she made contacting the GC very easy and straightforward.
Snakes are another delight here, and in the summer you will often see them crushed on the roads if they haven’t been quick enough to avoid the traffic. Most will keep out of sight and away from humans but occasionally you can come upon them a little too close for comfort.
One lovely day I was cooling off in the pool while Peter was sweeping up leaves from the patio. We both spotted a snake in the pool – I have never swum so fast to the steps in my life! I am seriously considering trying out for the Olympic swimming team, I’m sure I swam the whole length of the pool in under one second. We caught the snake in the pool net and took it away across the road to an area with plenty of undergrowth, and let it go. We laugh about it now but it was not funny at the time, not funny at all!
It was only a wee one, and not harmful to humans but…..no thanks!
The things that frightens me most are centipedes called scolopendras. They are hideous things which are around 10 centimetres long. They can move fairly quickly and have a bite/sting that causes humans indescribable pain, so you really don’t want to mess with them. They’re virtually indestructible as well, and even if you chop them in half they will still come after you – both bits, that is! We have come across only a very few in the house, and they really scare me. I try to be really quick and catch them with tongs and get rid of them over the big garden wall at the side of the house. They make my skin crawl and I absolutely HATE them as a bite or sting means you can end up in hospital very quickly.Yes, that bad!
Geckos are very commonplace here, and they are great wee things at keeping the mosquito population under control, but I’m not dying about seeing them in the house as they move very quickly and I’m always worried they might run over me at night in bed!
At least they are friendly to humans, and not a threat in any way. When we find one in the house we usually catch it in the pool net and get it back safely outside to the garden.
When I first moved to Spain I used to hear what sounded like electricity wires buzzing in the summer. It was ages before I learned they are cicadas, a sort of beetle insect, and the buzzing is the sound the males make when trying to attract a female. They are quite chunky and measure around a couple of inches long.Their eggs are laid underground and they stay there for years, finally surfacing to mate and then die. Not a lot of fun being a cicada! They are harmless to humans, are very shy and difficult to spot and tend to fall silent if you approach. They are masters of disguise so I was very lucky to get a photo of this one on a tree on our terrace.
My life in Spain 