Homer's Odyssey (c. eighth century BC), Odysseus crawls beneath two shoots of olive that grow from a single stock,[79] and in the Iliad, (XVII.53ff) there is a metaphoric description of a lone olive tree in the mountains by a spring; the Greeks observed that the olive rarely thrives at a distance from the sea, which in Greece invariably means up mountain slopes.
Some speak with their tongues and some speak with their eyes
Could try and bargain a price
But you could pay with your life
You try and shape the body
But the body shapes the mind
Now your mind is disappearing
Your health is in decline
it’s all about the environment olive trees create.
With their gnarled trunks, thick root systems, and dense leafy canopies, olive trees offer the perfect shelter for snakes like grass snakes and adders. Their twisted forms provide cool, shaded spots in the heat of the day—and when you’re cold-blooded, that’s a big deal.
But it’s not just the tree itself. The typical olive grove comes with its own natural perks: dry stone walls, rocky terraces, and sun-soaked limestone soil. These features soak up warmth all day and release it slowly at night, creating a toasty after-hours haven for snakes.
An all-you-can-eat buffet for cold-blooded predators...These groves are teeming with critters that snakes love to hunt—mice, moles, lizards, and even small birds. It’s essentially a ready-made buffet for reptiles. And when prey is plentiful, predators follow.
