any reptile/ herps people well as yowie hunters on here ?

[hoplo]

kind of intertwined hobbies with all the time spent in the bush

[Dion]

Hi there Hoplo

I couldn't help notice that no one has responded to your post???

Maybe it would be an good idea to have some form of an elaborate post detailing what you are trying to convey.

[Yowie bait]

Its a good mix of hobbies. Good chance of seeing some sort of reptile when your out researching yowies. I saw a snake swallow another snake last year but that was in a swimming pool. Still an amazing thing to see!

Photo is some water skink
. He was chasing baby water dragons.

[hoplo]

thanks for he replies guys, the main reason i posted here is because yowie enthusiasts often spend lots of time out bush and as we have here can take some photos that not even reptile researchers can stumble across when looking for them

i often imagine that ill be Stumble Upon across a yowie during one of my night spotting sessions for snakes, both snakes (certian species) and yowies share an elusiveness out in the Australian landscape

[hoplo]

Its a good mix of hobbies. Good chance of seeing some sort of reptile when your out researching yowies. I saw a snake swallow another snake last year but that was in a swimming pool. Still an amazing thing to see!

Photo is some water skink
. He was chasing baby water dragons.

thats a golden water skink, nice habitat shot

[hoplo]

i might go as far to encourage any people on here that have photographed reptiles in their time in the bush to post on this thread

[Yowie bait]

Its a good mix of hobbies. Good chance of seeing some sort of reptile when your out researching yowies. I saw a snake swallow another snake last year but that was in a swimming pool. Still an amazing thing to see!

Photo is some water skink
. He was chasing baby water dragons.

thats a golden water skink, nice habitat shot

Thanks i wondered what they were. I was watching tiny dragons and it chased them off!

Heres a couple of pythons, The one in the creek is interesting. Theres a few tumbled rock stacks to right of screen and near end of its tail. I was wondering what was knocking them over. There was usually a few stacks down there. It was taking off away from a couple of very agitated turkeys.

The one in the tree was getting attacked by a heap of different birds. Strangely enough even a couple of turkeys were running around underneath! Birds took off as soon as i tried to take a pic. Snake could care less..

I videoed the snake eating the other but cannnot find it anywhere. Thats a lame still pic. As you can see from tiles, it was quite long.

If i find anything more exotic i will post it here. Trying to avoid the poisonous types though!

[hoplo]

those are some great photos yowiebait

[Dion]

Ha,

Thanks Hoplo, somehow I misinterpreted your thread heading to mean "are there any Reptile people" ie Reptilians here on the forum. LOL

I guess it pays to be aware of the possibility of things being interpreted differently.

[hoplo]

a fair mistake dion on such a forum

[Yowie bait]

those are some great photos yowiebait

Thanks mate. I actually see more snakes at work around the suburbs than in the bush but i know theyre there.

Seen a few little green ones catching grasshoppers and lizards. They dont seem to mind if you watch then when theyre getting ready to strike at something. Even the little ones get that scary look before they strike!

[GECKO]

Love me reptiles

[GECKO]

IMGP0593.jpg

[GECKO]

IMG_1123.jpg

[Yowie bait]

Nice photos GECKO and welcome to the forum. The snakes are starting to come out again up here in Qld. Ive heard a few lately but not seen any...yet!

[GECKO]

Cheers yowiebait,
Would love to do some herping up around your way. Down here in Melbourne we only have deadly snakes apart from white liped snakes and blind snakes, even lace monitors are getting harder to find. Though i better get my daughter into the wonderful world of reptiles before she get to old and scared of them.

[sensesonfire]

Howdy GECKO,
Is that an Eastern Brown in the second photo you're handling?
I've always had a great interest in snakes, not lizards/skinks so much. Spent most of my early life living in the bush where contact with snakes was an everyday occurrence certainly had no fear of them and so long as you were aware they are there no problems. Always wanted to be a herpetoculturist but very difficult to obtain a license in WA. On saying that I should have been bitten three times once by a Death Adder and a couple of times by Dugites.
I now live by the sea in the city and there's still no escaping them. Sadly, a lady was bitten by a Dugite while walking on the beach near where I live the previous summer and passed away.

[GECKO]

Hey sensesonfire,
Na its not an eastern brown, this one is a copperhead, browns are a bit to fast for me so i stay clear of those fellas, copperheads are actually pretty quiet and calm down fairly quickly. Dont hear of many deaths due to snake bites here in melb, it is sad to hear of snakes causing death though. People even die from harmless snake bites just because of shock! It gives snakes a bad name but ive heard of more horses killing people than snakes.. funny that cos ill let my 1 year old play with pythons but keep her well away from bloody horses!

[Yowie bait]

Cheers yowiebait,
Would love to do some herping up around your way. Down here in Melbourne we only have deadly snakes apart from white liped snakes and blind snakes, even lace monitors are getting harder to find. Though i better get my daughter into the wonderful world of reptiles before she get to old and scared of them.

Yeah mate snakes everywhere up here in the summer. I see alot of python skins and poop when working in ceilings. Found a massive full skeleton in one roof and another massive python apparently still alive up there.

We nursed a green tree snake back to health when i was a kid. I wouldnt attempt to handle even one of them now! My older brother was the go to reptile guy in the neighborhood so he was constantly rescuing them. Mostly turtles and snakes.

There are still a lot of snakes in the suburbs around brisbane. Had a very thick red belly black slither past me when digging a trench. I was sitting in the trench having a break and it was only a metre away! Had em in the gardens at the childrens home i worked at as well. They have beautiful colouring. We even had a two headed whip( ?) snake in a jar in our workshop!

I definetely dont want to get bitten so im very wary. A mate has been bitten by a venomous( common brown type i think?) and large python. He says python bite was worse as he had severe blood poisoning and it kept reccuring and giving him other troubles. The venomous was still bad but not as much trouble as python in his case. No thanks to either!!

Your girl will be the opposite of my wife. She watches these docos on snakes but is horrified at the thought of them and refuses to go on the local bushwalk track now because of all the sightings of brown snakes.

We even had one in our hotel room down the coast. Doesnt like plastic snakes in her things either. Lol!

[Wolf]

Got countless snake stories from growing up in the bush.
Every couple of years we would relocate a huge python that would feed on our chooks. I am pretty sure it was always the same one that would take a year or so to come back after dropping it off far away from home.

Red bellies and browns we killed on sight with dad's old 410.

When I was a teenager mum caught a red belly eating her bantam eggs. Unfortunately the 410 had a jammed cartridge so she made me crawl into the small bantam coop with a shovel and the 22. I had to try and pin its head with one hand and put the 22 barrel point blank on its skull to kill the damned thing.

One killed one of our dogs last year.

Don't blame anyone for staying clear of eastern browns, they are incredibly fast and actually move faster than the human eye can keep up when going full pelt.

[Wolf]

There are plenty of 'Land Mullet' in the Gold Coast national parks.
(Brown, fat lizards. They look like maybe some sub species of blue tongue?)

More than enough to keep the local Yowie troops well fed.

[sensesonfire]

Got countless snake stories from growing up in the bush.
Every couple of years we would relocate a huge python that would feed on our chooks. I am pretty sure it was always the same one that would take a year or so to come back after dropping it off far away from home.

Red bellies and browns we killed on sight with dad's old 410.

When I was a teenager mum caught a red belly eating her bantam eggs. Unfortunately the 410 had a jammed cartridge so she made me crawl into the small bantam coop with a shovel and the 22. I had to try and pin its head with one hand and put the 22 barrel point blank on its skull to kill the damned thing.

One killed one of our dogs last year.

Don't blame anyone for staying clear of eastern browns, they are incredibly fast and actually move faster than the human eye can keep up when going full pelt.

Funny thing about Red Bellies Wolf there just aren't supposed to be any in WA but years ago back in the early 90's I was riding one of my horses along a soft gravel road when this large (about five to 5 and a half foot) glistening black snake with a brilliant red underbelly slithered across the road.
I knew what species it was even knowing there were no Red Bellied Blacks in WA however on the corner of this road was an interstate trucking yard no doubt the snake had disembarked after a rather long journey from the east.

Whether or not the snake would have survived would be problematical because this area was hot, dry with little water and I believe Red Bellies prefer swampy regions.

[Tuckeroo]

Got countless snake stories from growing up in the bush.
Every couple of years we would relocate a huge python that would feed on our chooks. I am pretty sure it was always the same one that would take a year or so to come back after dropping it off far away from home.

Red bellies and browns we killed on sight with dad's old 410.

When I was a teenager mum caught a red belly eating her bantam eggs. Unfortunately the 410 had a jammed cartridge so she made me crawl into the small bantam coop with a shovel and the 22. I had to try and pin its head with one hand and put the 22 barrel point blank on its skull to kill the damned thing.

One killed one of our dogs last year.

Don't blame anyone for staying clear of eastern browns, they are incredibly fast and actually move faster than the human eye can keep up when going full pelt.

Hi Wolf and Senses, Interesting snake stories;
I’ve killed a couple of smaller brown snakes; never felt good about it, thinking they may not be too venomous for their size,
but you’ve got to do it if they are around were you live.
I was working on a Macadamia plantation north of Lismore, going up and down the rows pruning.
The grass had recently been slashed and along the fence line where I was, I could hear something moving towards me
in the clumps of grass, like dragging a garden hose instead of a rhythmic sound a rodent would make.

Next minute I couldn’t believe it, a brown snake slithered out into the clear, enough for me to instinctively jump backwards
and fall over. This snake didn’t so much have a go at me but more like it stood its ground. I cleared off back to the farm house
for lunch. I told my work mate what had happened and he didn’t seem surprised until I told him how big it was.

I went and did some work elsewhere and in the late arvo went back to where I was working the rows in the morning.
I found a length of old grey water pipe and was waving it about like a samurai sword laughing to myself, this’ll fix him.
As if I was going to see this joe blake again.
But I did; only a few trees down from where I was in the morning, I was shocked when I heard the same dragging sound that
I’d heard in the morning and even more shocked when it came out of the grass. I’m no hero here, but when it started moving
in my direction a few metres away I had enough time to take a few steps back and bend down and pick up the piece of water pipe.

I don’t think it was trying to attack me but moving in my general direction was enough for me to go into primal mode and clobber
the thing on the head with the piece of pipe.
It was like a dream state when I wacked it a few more times to make sure. I was shaking a bit and looking down at it doing
a few final figure eights, then it was dead.
It was a magnificent bit of our fauna that I’d disposed of. Something that I never want to repeat, a smidgen over 6 ft.
in the old money. It was as thick as my forearm in the middle of its body. It was amazing to look at how all the scales fit together
and its body shone a golden brown colour at different angles to the sun.

They say snakes don’t attack you but I was wondering what brought this snake to me twice in one day.
We had previously been spreading dynamic lifter fertilizer about the place and I was wondering if the chooky smell
would bring the snakes in.
I can understand what you said Wolf about how fast browns can move, blacks a bit slower and carpet snakes even slower,
also green tree snakes can move quickly through branches.

You see a lot more black snakes killed on the road in spring rather then brown snakes, maybe because they move slower ?

The thing is with snakes is they effect your visual perception when they move near you.
Most animals at ground level that humans try to avoid move more or less in a predictable manner but snakes in short grass
seem to appear then disappear before you eyes, making them hard to follow or get away from.


T.

[Yowie bait]

I know what you mean about the perception Tuckeroo. Thats why they're so hard to hit if your trying to kill them. I try too avoid killing them but when im at the relatives in the country, they kill the venomous ones without a second thought.

They dont shoot them though, they use a whip of steel and chop em in half! Just too much risk with kids around when a 6ft red belly or king brown is hanging around. They come in for the frogs apparently.

[hillbilly]

An Old Hillbilly told me that I should NEVER kill a Redbelly Black Snake.
He told me that they are virtually NON venomous, and that they eat young brown snakes. (so do bearded dragons) They will hiss and rear up when cornered, so give them an exit.
The Snake that kept appearing at the Macadamia Plantation was probably following a rodent scent. Not hunting Humans.

The following has been copied.
"According to my research, as at the time of writing there have been 41 snakebite deaths since 1980 in Australia. The brown snake is believed to have been involved in 24 of those deaths.The Tiger Snake is responsible for 8 and the Death Adder, Rough Scaled Snake and Taipan are responsible for the rest.
Australian snakes are very shy and timid. They would rather move away from a human, not towards one.
Australia’s snakes rarely envenom when biting defensively.
More than 20 people die each year in Australia from horse riding related accidents. Less than 2 a year die from a snakebite.
The deadliest of all Australian creatures, responsible for an average of 10 deaths per year, is the European Honey Bee, which can induce anaphylactic shock in some people.
The same happens in the UK, where there are an estimated 10 deaths a year attributed to wasp or bee stings.
About 30-60 people are struck by lightning each year in Britain and, on average, 3 of those may die.
Scuba diving causes 8 deaths a year here in Australia.
Don’t even get me started on road traffic deaths!

So, you are statistically more likely to die going horse riding or scuba-diving, by being struck by lightning or stung by a bee or wasp or by simply getting about in a car."
and
"The red-bellied black snake (Pseudechis porphyriacus) is a species of elapid snake native to eastern Australia. Though its venom is capable of causing significant morbidity, a bite from it is not generally fatal and is less venomous than other Australian Elapid snakes." end


So, I personally made the decision years ago to NOT harm redbelly blacks.
When I have come across them in the wild I have paused to guage the danger, and in doing so, I have realised the old Hillbilly was right. They are harmless, and kinda cool.
All the city folk on this forum should take note, and when you have spent a few minutes appreciating the RedBelly Black, in all its harmless splendour, you will have a bigger BUZZ than being the DH who had killed it.

[Yowie bait]

Hi Hillbilly, i have heard a similar thing about the red bellys. My cousin used to say they cant kill us but he used to swim with crocs as well and say that was safe .

I am horrified when my inlaws tell me how many snakes they " have" to kill but i get the point, they dont want a kid getting bitten.

Heres a pic of an 11 ft 6 inch python skin i just pulled out of a ceiling to show the owner. I know they stretch so maybe a 10 footer? Even eye sockets and all but very tip of tail intact. A fine effort!

[sensesonfire]

I never kill snakes in their natural environment venomous or non-venomous. I see a snake slithering across the road I slow down to let it pass. There are exceptions though, my parents had a large Dugite domiciled in their backyard. This bugger had eaten my Mum's prized Northern Territory parrots including the fledgeling chicks. She was bending down to investigate one of the dead adult birds when the snake struck out at her. Didn't see the snake because the sun was in her eyes, luckily the cage wire was a barrier. She then realised why birds were strangely decreasing in numbers.
I believe it also killed an orphaned kangaroo joey Mum was caring for in the yard. Discovered the snake sunning itself on the top of a rockery one morning, as soon as it saw me it headed straight for a hole in the rocks. I knew it would return so about half an hour later I very quietly returned with my .22 rifle even with a bullet in its head it still made a b-line for the hole so I had to grab it by the tail and yank it out while it was still trying to have a go at me.
The next door neighbours three young kids regularly played on the other side of the fence right next to where the snake was hanging out so it had to go.

I have had some really interesting face offs with snakes over the years this is just one of them.

[Tuckeroo]

An Old Hillbilly told me that I should NEVER kill a Redbelly Black Snake.
He told me that they are virtually NON venomous, and that they eat young brown snakes. (so do bearded dragons) They will hiss and rear up when cornered, so give them an exit.
The Snake that kept appearing at the Macadamia Plantation was probably following a rodent scent. Not hunting Humans.

The following has been copied.
"According to my research, as at the time of writing there have been 41 snakebite deaths since 1980 in Australia. The brown snake is believed to have been involved in 24 of those deaths.The Tiger Snake is responsible for 8 and the Death Adder, Rough Scaled Snake and Taipan are responsible for the rest.
Australian snakes are very shy and timid. They would rather move away from a human, not towards one.
Australia’s snakes rarely envenom when biting defensively.
More than 20 people die each year in Australia from horse riding related accidents. Less than 2 a year die from a snakebite.
The deadliest of all Australian creatures, responsible for an average of 10 deaths per year, is the European Honey Bee, which can induce anaphylactic shock in some people.
The same happens in the UK, where there are an estimated 10 deaths a year attributed to wasp or bee stings.
About 30-60 people are struck by lightning each year in Britain and, on average, 3 of those may die.
Scuba diving causes 8 deaths a year here in Australia.
Don’t even get me started on road traffic deaths!

So, you are statistically more likely to die going horse riding or scuba-diving, by being struck by lightning or stung by a bee or wasp or by simply getting about in a car."
and
"The red-bellied black snake (Pseudechis porphyriacus) is a species of elapid snake native to eastern Australia. Though its venom is capable of causing significant morbidity, a bite from it is not generally fatal and is less venomous than other Australian Elapid snakes." end


So, I personally made the decision years ago to NOT harm redbelly blacks.
When I have come across them in the wild I have paused to guage the danger, and in doing so, I have realised the old Hillbilly was right. They are harmless, and kinda cool.
All the city folk on this forum should take note, and when you have spent a few minutes appreciating the RedBelly Black, in all its harmless splendour, you will have a bigger BUZZ than being the DH who had killed it.

Hi Yb. Some great photos you got there, especially the ones from a few months ago of the huge carpet snake
moving through the tree tops, I missed those earlier. Interesting pic of the skin in the ceiling cavity.
I don't think I've ever seen footage of a snake shedding its skin, it would be good to see how they do it.
I agree with Hillbilly about not killing black snakes but how do you know when a large one is hanging about
where you live or work. As with the attitiude of your inlaws, adults can avoid them but if kids are about it's a
different story.

Hi Hillbilly, thanks for your interesting post on snake bite statistics.
I’ve heard that fact before about more people being killed by horses than by snakes. Doesn’t make me any less
frightened of them. Most Australians by instinct step lightly and keep an eye on the ground in front of them
when their in the bush. Sure they do want to attack you but you can’t help treading on the darn things.
I still believe the rich chook smell from the fertilizer pellets could bring the snakes in.

Fertilizing the young macca tress always happened in spring time which was snake season anyway so this idea
would be hard to prove. Macca farms from my experience have lots of rats about but more around sheds and out
buildings rather than out in the open paddocks.

One farm I worked on had a 2 metre carpet snake draped about the packing shed supports while people were working.
No one seemed too concerned about it, kind of like a farm mascot.
One young girl sorting nuts was a bit worried but the boss pointed out the round lump in the snakes belly and that it
was up there just sleeping off the previous nights rodent feast. He told a story about how the windscreen wipers of his
4wd stopped working. He found a big rats nest in the cavity under the wipers. Tonnes of grass, poop and half eaten nuts,
they even chewed through some of the wiring.

I was wondering what’s the difference between a king brown and an eastern brown, are they the same thing ?
When an eastern brown is over 6 ft. does that make it a king brown ?


T.

[Tuckeroo]

I never kill snakes in their natural environment venomous or non-venomous. I see a snake slithering across the road I slow down to let it pass. There are exceptions though, my parents had a large Dugite domiciled in their backyard. This bugger had eaten my Mum's prized Northern Territory parrots including the fledgeling chicks. She was bending down to investigate one of the dead adult birds when the snake struck out at her. Didn't see the snake because the sun was in her eyes, luckily the cage wire was a barrier. She then realised why birds were strangely decreasing in numbers.
I believe it also killed an orphaned kangaroo joey Mum was caring for in the yard. Discovered the snake sunning itself on the top of a rockery one morning, as soon as it saw me it headed straight for a hole in the rocks. I knew it would return so about half an hour later I very quietly returned with my .22 rifle even with a bullet in its head it still made a b-line for the hole so I had to grab it by the tail and yank it out while it was still trying to have a go at me.
The next door neighbours three young kids regularly played on the other side of the fence right next to where the snake was hanging out so it had to go.

I have had some really interesting face offs with snakes over the years this is just one of them.

Hi Senses, some more interesting snake stories, surprises me what I learn on these forums.
I'm over her on the east coast so I don't know that much about WA's fauna and flora.
Up until your posts I didn't know about ''Dugites'' they sound just as bad as Browns.
In the 1980's there was an aussie band from west oz called the Dugites.
Didn't know they named themselves after a snake.

T.

[Yowie bait]

I never kill snakes in their natural environment venomous or non-venomous. I see a snake slithering across the road I slow down to let it pass. There are exceptions though, my parents had a large Dugite domiciled in their backyard. This bugger had eaten my Mum's prized Northern Territory parrots including the fledgeling chicks. She was bending down to investigate one of the dead adult birds when the snake struck out at her. Didn't see the snake because the sun was in her eyes, luckily the cage wire was a barrier. She then realised why birds were strangely decreasing in numbers.
I believe it also killed an orphaned kangaroo joey Mum was caring for in the yard. Discovered the snake sunning itself on the top of a rockery one morning, as soon as it saw me it headed straight for a hole in the rocks. I knew it would return so about half an hour later I very quietly returned with my .22 rifle even with a bullet in its head it still made a b-line for the hole so I had to grab it by the tail and yank it out while it was still trying to have a go at me.
The next door neighbours three young kids regularly played on the other side of the fence right next to where the snake was hanging out so it had to go.

I have had some really interesting face offs with snakes over the years this is just one of them.

Hi Senses, some more interesting snake stories, surprises me what I learn on these forums.
I'm over her on the east coast so I don't know that much about WA's fauna and flora.
Up until your posts I didn't know about ''Dugites'' they sound just as bad as Browns.
In the 1980's there was an aussie band from west oz called the Dugites.
Didn't know they named themselves after a snake.

T.

Nice trivia skills there Tuckeroo! " in your car" was the Dugites big song.