And the bush has friends to meet him, and their kindly voices greet him, In the murmur of the breezes and the river on its bars,
And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended, And at night the wonderous glory of the everlasting stars.

Banjo Paterson (1889)

Monday, July 5, 2010

The Snakes of Wodgina

Catching a snake always gives me a rush. They are some of the most wonderful and beautiful animals found in the Pilbara, but must always be treated with respect. Wodgina provided some cool snakes.



A Yellow-faced Whipsnake (Demansia psammophis), a day hunting, lightning-fast snake that chases lizards.




They grow to about a metre and are not considered dangerous to humans, but they can bite at lightning speed. I had a close experience with one near Perth that slid out the funnel trap opening while I was trying to see inside. Suddenly I had an annoyed whipsnake head only an inch from my eye, luckily he was only having a look at me too!




The subspecies in the northwest is cupreiceps with a nice copper head and tail.





The wonderful Black-headed Python (Aspidites melanocephalus) we found while driving along the railway road late one afternoon. The videos of this snake are at  http://wazoologist.blogspot.com/2010/06/black-headed-python-videos.html




My boss Trin over the moon holding the Black-headed Python.




One of the four fantastic snakes from the genus Simoselaps. A Desert Banded Snake (Simoselaps anomalus).



Such a beautiful harmless small snake, found in sandy spinifex deserts of Western Australia where it swims through sand to hunt small burrowing lizards.




All of the Simoselaps have stunning body patterns.


5 comments:

Wilma said...

That is one big python! I had no idea that they could live in such dry areas; I always associated them with humid tropics. I remember seeing a massive carpet python along the road when we were in Queensland 2 decades ago! Great photos, once again.

cheers,
Wilma

Unknown said...

Thanks for your comment those snakes are something else.Enjoyed your site and added you as follower and blog i follow.

WilloW said...

Beautiful. You don;t see too many about these days.

Sciarada said...

Really exciting

Unknown said...

We have just found a dessert banded snake in wallaroo south Australia dead on the road I have kept it for identification email richardh@myacn.net.au