# Pics from the Brigalow Belt, Queensland



## smacdonald (Jan 3, 2008)

I headed out to the Brigalow Belt in Queensland to meet some friends of ours and see what cool critters we could find. I've been out to this particular spot a few times, but have never managed to see a De Vis' banded snake (_Denisonia devisi_), despite this area being well-known for this snake species. So on this trip I was determined to find one. 

The friends that we were with weren't particularly into waiting around while we photographed the critters we saw, so the vast majority of pics below are pretty average.

The only other things we saw that I didn't manage to get any pics of were a marbled velvet gecko (_Oedura marmorata_) and a large elapid that slithered off the road and into the grass before we could get close to it. It was large and chunky, so I'm guessing it was a mulga snake (_Pseudechis australis_).

I should warn you that I have a bit of an interest in road kill, so there are some pics of squished animals below.

I've posted this series on a few other forums, so apologies if you've already seen them.

Stewart




Roadkilled De Vis' banded snake (Denisonia devisi). We knew we were in the right place when we found a dead specimen of our target species.




Roadkilled mulga snake (Pseudechis australis). This particular area is home to a gorgeous colour form of this impressive snake. This dead one is just a little fellow.




Curl snake (Suta suta). This is the only pic we got of this snake before our friends started driving off without us!




Australian coral snake (Brachyurophis australis). Photo by Alecia Carter.




De Vis' banded snake (Denisonia devisi). At last! The first specimen of our target species! This one looked like it had been run over. We moved it off the road.




De Vis' banded snake (Denisonia devisi). We ended up finding four individuals of this species on the last night we were out.




Beaked gecko (Rhynchoedura ornata)




Fat-tailed gecko (Diplodactylus conspicillatus)




Eastern spiny=tailed gecko (Strophurus williamsi)




Eastern spiny-tailed gecko (Strophurus williamsi)




Box-patterned gecko (Diplodactylus steindachneri)




Box-patterned gecko (Diplodactylus steindachneri)




Box-patterned gecko (Diplodactylus steindachneri)




Eastern stone gecko (Diplodactylus vittatus) that has had its head run over. He was still running along the road. I took this pic while someone else grabbed a rock to put the gecko out of its misery.




Brigalow scaly-foot (Paradelma orientalis), a threatened species of legless lizard. The small 'flaps'' either side of the vent are the remains of legs lost over the course of millions of years of evolution.




Brigalow scaly-foot (Paradelma orientalis). Photo by Alecia Carter.




Juvenile eastern bearded dragon (Pogona barbata)




Roadkilled eastern blue-tongued skink (Tiliqua scincoides scincoides). We found four dead blue tongues on the roads. They were all large, and possibly males killed while in search of females. That's Alecia in the background wondering why I'm taking a photo of yet another dead animal.




Eastern blue-tongued skink (Tiliqua scincoides scincoides), Photo by Alecia Carter. Thankfully this skink was alive when we found him. He was very angry, obviously not understanding that we just wanted to move him off the road and to safety.




Eastern blue-tongued skink (Tiliqua scincoides scincoides), Photo by Alecia Carter.




Eastern snapping frog (Cyclorana novaehollandiae), Photo by Alecia Carter.




Eastern snapping frog (Cyclorana novaehollandiae), Photo by Alecia Carter.




Young eastern snapping frog (Cyclorana novaehollandiae)




Young eastern snapping frog (Cyclorana novaehollandiae)




Young eastern snapping frog (Cyclorana novaehollandiae)




Water-holding frog (Cyclorana platycephala)




Water-holding frog (Cyclorana platycephala)




Roadkilled hare




Roadkilled shingleback (Tiliqua rugosa). This skink was completely eviscerated, probably by crows or birds of prey.




Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus). Not a herp, but probably the closest you can get to a herp while still being a mammal!




Sunset through a fence. Photo by Alecia Carter. This is the last sunset we saw out there before heading back home.


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## GraftonChic (Jan 3, 2008)

Very Nice except the road kill pics


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## lil_ben (Jan 3, 2008)

awsome pics


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## pugsly (Jan 3, 2008)

Wow..

Great photography there mate, some supurb shots there including the last one.

How many nights did you find all these animals over? Seems like a top spot for herping thats for sure, but the roadkill is always depressing.. I have seen a heap of dead lacies on the roads lately.. not good at all...


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## smacdonald (Jan 3, 2008)

GraftonChic said:


> Very Nice except the road kill pics



You _were_ warned!

Stewart


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## smacdonald (Jan 3, 2008)

pugsly said:


> Wow..
> 
> Great photography there mate, some supurb shots there including the last one.
> 
> How many nights did you find all these animals over? Seems like a top spot for herping thats for sure, but the roadkill is always depressing.. I have seen a heap of dead lacies on the roads lately.. not good at all...



Hi Steve,

We had planned on about four nights, but we found four individuals of our target species on the second night so we packed up and went home. The weather was also starting to get very windy on the third day and we weren't sure if our already broken tent would survive. Plus I had a library book to return. There are still species out there I haven't yet seen, so I'll definitely be heading back this season.

Stewart


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## slacker (Jan 3, 2008)

Nice shots, Stew 

PS: Where's my flan?


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## python blue (Jan 3, 2008)

nice pics the sun set pic is amazing also the herps are great the de vis banded snake is awsome poor little wood gecko


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## carpetsnake (Jan 3, 2008)

what roads did u go on hwy etc


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## smacdonald (Jan 3, 2008)

carpetsnake said:


> what roads did u go on hwy etc



We went on a bunch of sealed roads around Moonie (we were staying at the Moonie Crossroads). I think pretty much any of the roads in that area would yield interesting critters in the right weather.


Stewart


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## zulu (Jan 3, 2008)

*re Pics*

A top post stewart very entertaining,great photography love that last shot,in respect to the gecko with the flattened head you could of reinflated its head by mouth to mouth or bike pump,got to look on the bright side,he wont stray on the road again.


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## smacdonald (Jan 3, 2008)

zulu said:


> in respect to the gecko with the flattened head you could of reinflated its head by mouth to mouth



I tried, but I couldn't actually find its mouth. 


Stewart


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## warren63 (Jan 3, 2008)

Great pics and just goes to show how our roads and herps dont mix


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## zulu (Jan 3, 2008)

*re Pics*

That last pic is very australian,ime looking into the beautiful sunset and spot the wings not of an eagle! haha its a fly right in the middle perched on the wire,thats wicked,howd she train him to sit still? hope the fly was unharmed in the making of the picture.


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## smacdonald (Jan 3, 2008)

zulu said:


> howd she train him to sit still?



I've Photoshopped out the tiny little chains that are holding the fly down.

Stewart


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## zulu (Jan 3, 2008)

*re Pics*



reptilesDownUnder said:


> I've Photoshopped out the tiny little chains that are holding the fly down.
> 
> Stewart[/QUOTE
> 
> Thats sooo clever,wondered how you did it!


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## rexs1 (Jan 3, 2008)

Beautiful pics. It certainly is a great location in S.W. Qld. The frog pics are terrific.


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## Joshua VW (Jan 3, 2008)

Great pictures!
I really like the frog photos and that last picture is amazing.


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## Joshua VW (Jan 3, 2008)

You should send the last picture into National Geographics.


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## Jonno from ERD (Jan 3, 2008)

Nice post, Stewart!

I herp the Brigalow fairly often. In April this year we were moving a Snakeneck Turtle off the road, and there was a De Vis swimming across a dam, in the middle of the day. It was an underweight adult female. We find them fairly regularly out there, but not often during the day.

The species I have found are - 

Acanthophis antarcticus
Demansia psammophis
Denisonia devisi
Furina diadema
Hemiaspis damelii
Hoplocephalus bitorquatus
Parasuta dwyeri
Pseudechis australis
Pseudechis guttatus
Pseudechis porphyriachus
Pseudonaja textilis (speckled form, very nice)
Suta suta
Vermicella annulata

Varanus gouldii gouldii
Varanus panoptes rubidus
Varanus tristis
Varanus varius

Chelodina expansa
Chelodina longicollis

Diplodactylus steindachneri
Diplodactylus tesselatus
Diplodactylus vittatus
Gehyra dubia
Heteronotia binoei (over and over and over again...)
Oedura marmorata
Oedura monilis
Oedura robusta
Ryncoedura ornata
Strophurus taenicauda
Strophurus williamsi (found one in a bathtub in the middle of St George!)

Delma plebiae
Delma tincta
Lialis burtonis
Pygopus schraderi

Anomalopus leuckartii
Ctenotus robustus
Egernia rugosa
Egernia striolata
Eremiascincus fasiolatus
Eremiascincus richardsonii
Lerisa punctatovittata
Morethia boulengeri
Tiliqua rugosa aspera
Tiliqua scincoides scincoides

Amphibolurus burnsi
Ambhibolurus nobbi
Pogona barbata


As you can tell, we normally only herp at night. Have you ever seen Morelia or Antaresia out there? I would be very interested to see some photos if you have.

Cheers


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## urodacus_au (Jan 3, 2008)

Great photos, we really do need somewhere specific for these trip reports......hint...hint.....HINT :lol:

Jordan


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## kak1 (Jan 3, 2008)

Stewart,

Excellent photos. I own a little over 600 acres of land west of Dalby. All but 200 acres are covered with Brigalow Scrub. The other 200 acres were cleared by the previous owner and as a result i am aiming to plant natives (of the region) to bring the area back to what it should be. Hopefully when i'm more experienced at herping i'll be able to compile a list of the Herps found on the property and surrounding areas. Again nice shots. Would love to hear where you took them.

Kak


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## Joshua VW (Jan 3, 2008)

600 ACRES?!?! That's HUGE! I would love to have 600 acres!
I bet you could find a lot of herps.


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## hornet (Jan 3, 2008)

Joshua VW said:


> 600 ACRES?!?! That's HUGE! I would love to have 600 acres!
> I bet you could find a lot of herps.



lol try herping on our friends 40,000 acres


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## JasonL (Jan 3, 2008)

Great pics, I think showing people the amount of things killed on outback roads is important, there are 1000's of reptiles getting clobbered every single day, I bet if they were Koalas there would be uproar.


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## mrmikk (Jan 3, 2008)

Mate, your photography skills are superb. 
Did you see any Brigalow Belt Womas while you were out there?


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## smacdonald (Jan 3, 2008)

Hi Jonno,

I've seen both _Morelia_ and _Antaresia_ in the northern Brigalow region, around Theodore. Pics are in this album somewhere. I've seen _Acanthophis_ and _Pseudechis guttatus_ in the southern region (pics are here).

My Brigalow wish list is:


_Hemiaspis damelii_
_Hoplocephalus bitorquatus_
_Furina dunmalli_
_Strophurus taenicauda_
_Egernia rugosa_

You'll have to tell me which areas you're looking in for these species.


Hi Jason,

"_I think showing people the amount of things killed on outback roads is important_"

I completely agree. Plus I'm collecting pics for my Road Kill Calendar (does that make me a bad person?).


Hi MrMikk,

"_Did you see any Brigalow Belt Womas while you were out there?_"

No, and I wasn't holding my breath for them. I've got a friend who's been looking for womas in that region for years and he's only found a couple dead on the road (heart-breaking stuff). I've given up on finding womas in Queensland, so I'm heading over to WA in two weeks to find some western womas.


Stewart


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## moose (Jan 15, 2008)

"Did you see any Brigalow Belt Womas while you were out there?"

Ha ha Ive lived out here For a year or so , And before that i was herping out here nearly every weekend, Probably the most elusive Brigalow Species. Not to mention Egernia rugosa , although i have seen a couple.


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## salebrosus (Jan 15, 2008)

reptilesDownUnder said:


> My Brigalow wish list is:
> 
> 
> [*]_Egernia rugosa_
> [/LIST]



You and me both Stewart!!!!!!!!!

Simone.


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## Jonno from ERD (Jan 15, 2008)

moose said:


> "Did you see any Brigalow Belt Womas while you were out there?"
> 
> Ha ha Ive lived out here For a year or so , And before that i was herping out here nearly every weekend, Probably the most elusive Brigalow Species. Not to mention Egernia rugosa , although i have seen a couple.


 
I reckon Dunmalls would be the most elusive. Have you seen any Adders? Antaresia? Morelia?


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## GraftonChic (Jan 15, 2008)

Ooh I like the Red-naped snake in your album- very pretty. Are they venomous?


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## moose (Jan 15, 2008)

There are more Morelia out here than previously thought. I have an epa report done on my particular area and they found only 1 Carpet Python in the study.

I often receive calls from neighbours wanting Carpets Removed from there Homes.

The most common snake out here is Probably Pseudechis guttatus - I see at least 3-4 On the Roads Every week during summer (Alive) and a multitude of Roadkill 

But i do remember a Local Newspaper Article mid last year regarding a Dunmalls In someones backyard. I will try and find that article , im sure i kept it. 

I see a lot of live live snakes on the road and a few have been patterned Not unlike Antaresia , Divis and Adders as they quite often have very similiar Patterns , but an id is not possible without stopping obviously and i dont stop for anything when im driving to work (200km round trip).


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## smacdonald (Jan 15, 2008)

GraftonChic said:


> Ooh I like the Red-naped snake in your album- very pretty. Are they venomous?



Hi GraftonChic,

Are you referring to my pics? Red-naped snakes are only weakly venomous, and generally disinclined to bite. Someone told me last year that they'd heard of a case of a person dying after a bite from a red-naped snake, but that was the first and last I'd heard of that 'case'.

Stewart


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