When travelling through Madeira, we encounter lots of cats: both strays and beloved house cats, during walks in the middle of nowhere and in cities and villages.
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Away from the Hotels, there are countless stray dogs wandering the streets barking night and day. Some of these dogs are just kicked out of their homes and left to their own devices. They walk in front of cars randomly and should not be approached.
In Madeira, there are three types of fundamental rodent species, namely rats, roof rats and mice. The rat is considered an urban pest; however, it is part of the larger urban pests and peculiar habits, with more aggressive tendencies and a propensity to bite and scratch humans, which could result in infections.
There are no venomous or dangerous animals on the island. In fact, there are no snakes at all on the island, and the spiders are not venomous. The only venomous spiders are on the Desertas Islands, but not on Madeira.
Assessment Rationale: The Desertas Islands (Madeira, Portugal) are the sole home of one of the largest and rarest wolf spider species worldwide, Hogna ingens (Blackwall, 1857) (Araneae, Lycosidae).
In the 2020-2022 triennium, life expectancy at birth for the population residing in the Region was estimated at 78.77 years: 75.05 years for men and 81.63 years for women, indicating that women can expect to live almost 7 years longer than men, according to the Regional Directorate of Statistics of Madeira (DREM).
Madeira is a subtropical island that differs from other locations with similar climates in a very special way. The island has virtually no pests and is free of dangerous insects and bugs. Wild animals are limited to rabbits and birds. There are no snakes and no swarms of irritating mosquitoes!
Violent crime involving tourists is extremely rare in Madeira and so you have little to worry about with regard to personal safety. But as with any travel destination, it's important to take basic travel safety precautions such as keeping your valuables close by and/or hidden, especially at night.
Calheta Beach is one of the island of Madeira's few yellow sandy beaches. A peaceful swimming experience is guaranteed by two piers, so you can exercise in the sea all year round. Ribeira do Natal Beach enjoys properties that make it one of the best places for swimming. The transparency of its waters is remarkable.
“Madeira Safe to Discover”As we mentioned above, among the main reasons Madeira was included in the European Best Destination's list of the safest 2021 travel destinations in Europe is the impressive effectiveness of the strict sanitary measures the islands has adopted.
Bugs (like mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas) can spread a number of diseases in the Madeira Islands. Many of these diseases cannot be prevented with a vaccine or medicine. You can reduce your risk by taking steps to prevent bug bites.
Oh yes, there are spiders in Madeira and some of them can be quite large. Scary, maybe, but these, too, are completely harmless. The best known is the Hogna maderiana, the Madeira Wolf Spider, sometimes also called the Madeira Tarantula. It is completely harmless, though scary for anyone afraid of spiders.
Dolphins, Whales and Sea LionsThe coastal waters of Madeira Island, are host to at least nine species of dolphins and ten species of migrating cetaceans. These are protected in the 430,000 km2 Madeiran Marine Mammal Sanctuary. The most commun wildlife are dolphins, whales and sea lions.
On March 4th, 1930, a sector of the Cape Girão cliff, located in the southern shore of Madeira Island, collapsed into the sea and generated an 8 m tsunami wave height.