Читать книгу Trekking in Mallorca. GR221 - The Drystone Route through the Serra de Tramuntana онлайн

20 страница из 45

Most of the mammals native to the island are small, including pine martens, weasels, hedgehogs, bats, hares, rabbits and rodents, and many of them are hunted by birds of prey. Snakes are only rarely spotted and should cause no concern to walkers. Geckos are unlikely to be seen, except by those keeping a keen watch. Frogs and toads may be common in well-watered areas, and they are notable near the large reservoirs at Cúber and Gorg Blau. Snails can be easy to spot because of their distictive shells. Insect life includes abundant butterflies in spring and summer, and even more species of moths. In the hot summer months cicadas and grasshoppers chirp and whir in the vegetation.

A notable ‘pest’ insect is the pine processionary moth. The female lays up to 200 eggs, which hatch into voracious caterpillars that can cause great damage to trees. They live in dense, spherical webs and move to new foraging areas by marching nose-to-tail, thus giving rise to their name. Don’t handle them, as they are covered in hairs that can irritate the skin. They are constantly monitored and controlled using pheromone traps.