Greeting's fellow herpers..
Seeing as this is my maiden post on the forum I thought I would take this time to properly introduce myself. My name is Jake Meney and I'm a 19 year old Zoology student from Sydney, Australia. To put things simply I live for herping! I love nothing more than getting out in the field to find and photograph reptiles. Much to my parents dislike I developed a strong interest in snakes, particularly elapids at a fairly young age and still to this day they remain my primary interest and focus.
Now that the formal business is taken care of let's get on to what everyone wants to see...some snakes!!! All the snakes in this post were found within a few hours of Sydney, NSW in the last 10 months or so.
Colubrids are certainly not Australia's strong point, with only 6 species nationwide. Sydney is home to two of those; the Brown Tree Snake (Boiga irregularis) and the Common Tree Snake (Dendrelaphis punctulatus). Both are widespread species found throughout much of the east coast and tropical north.
Brown Tree Snake (Boiga irregularis) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Brown Tree Snake (Boiga irregularis) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Common Tree Snake (Dendrelaphis punctulatus) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Diamond Python's are Sydney's only python species, although a few hours north you do get an intergrade between them and the Coastal Carpet. These intergrades are extremely common in some areas.
Diamond Python (Morelia spilota spilota) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Diamond Python (Morelia spilota spilota) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Now onto the good stuff..Elapids! Firstly a few smaller, not so dangerous species.
This Marsh Snake was my first snake of 2015, found on the night of January 1st. We ended up finding another 12 snakes that night. Perfect start to the year!!
Marsh Snake (Hemiaspis signata) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Red-naped Snake (Furina diadema)
Red-naped Snake (Furina diadema) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Golden-crowned Snake (Cacophis squamulosus)
Golden-crowned Snake (Cacophis squamulosus) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Dwyer's Snake (Parasuta dwyeri)
Dwyer's Snake (Parasuta dwyeri) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Mustard-bellied Snake (Drysdalia rhodogaster)
Mustard-bellied Snake (Drysdalia rhodogaster) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Mustard-bellied Snake (Drysdalia rhodogaster) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Bandy Bandy (Vermicella annulata)
Bandy Bandy (Vermicella annulata) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Bandy Bandy (Vermicella annulata) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
And now to the snakes you really don't want to be bitten by..
Eastern Small-eyed Snake (Cryptophis nigrescens). These are regarded as the trash snake of Sydney and Australia for that matter. They're ridiculously common, a pain to photograph and have nothing going for them appearance wise.
Eastern Small-eyed Snake (Cryptophis nigrescens) juvenile by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Yellow-faced Whip Snake (Demansia psammophis)
Yellow-faced Whip Snake (Demansia psammophis) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Red-bellied Black Snake (Pseudechis porphyriacus). These are taken for granted by most Australian herpers due to them being extremely common, but they really are beautiful snakes!!
Red-bellied Black Snake (Pseudechis porphyriacus) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Highlands Copperhead (Austrelaps ramsayi). These are a higher altitude species and are also quite common in the right areas.
Highlands Copperhead (Austrelaps ramsayi) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Highlands Copperhead (Austrelaps ramsayi) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Tiger Snakes are often found in the same habitat as Copperheads. I was pretty excited to find this attractive juvenile crossing a track at night in an area I'd herped frequently but never found them before.
Tiger Snake (Notechis scutatus) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Tiger Snake (Notechis scutatus) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
A much larger adult with a nose injury found in the same area a few weeks later.
Tiger Snake (Notechis scutatus) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Death Adders are one of my favourites!
Common Death Adder (Acanthophis antarcticus) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Common Death Adder (Acanthophis antarcticus) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Common Death Adder (Acanthophis antarcticus) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Another of my favourite snakes is the Rough-scaled Snake (Tropidechis carinatus). They only reach about 90cm but are very toxic, quite defensive and also partly arboreal.
Rough-scaled Snake (Tropidechis carinatus) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Rough-scaled Snake (Tropidechis carinatus) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Rough-scaled Snake (Tropidechis carinatus) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
One species that I frustratingly failed to find for a long time is the Sydney endemic Broad-headed Snake (Hoplocephalus bungaroides). Fortunately I found my first back in February, a young male crossing a bush track just after sunset. To say I was excited that night would be a huge understatement!
Broad-headed Snake (Hoplocephalus bungaroides) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Broad-headed Snake (Hoplocephalus bungaroides) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
I've since found a few more, including this tiny juvenile..
Broad-headed Snake (Hoplocephalus bungaroides) juvenile by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Broad-headed Snake (Hoplocephalus bungaroides) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
And another. Unfortunately these snakes are classified as endangered due to habitat destruction.
Broad-headed Snake (Hoplocephalus bungaroides) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Hoplocephalus or hoplos as they're commonly referred to are seriously awesome little snakes that are full of attitude. This is the other species found in the Sydney region, the Stephen's Banded Snake (Hoplocephalus stephensii).
Stephen's Banded Snake (Hoplocephalus stephensii) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Stephen's Banded Snake (Hoplocephalus stephensii) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
Stephen's Banded Snake (Hoplocephalus stephensii) by Jake Meney, on Flickr
The End!
Statistics: Posted by JakeMeney — August 4th, 2015, 6:09 am