# Bardick Pictures



## Sdaji (Dec 23, 2009)

The older Victorian herpers will all be familiar with this snake, many of them have searched for years to find one, some successfully, some not. Strangely, many of the younger herpers these days don't even know what a Bardick is.

They're extremely interesting snakes. They don't look like much in pictures, but in the flesh they are amazing. They sidewind, they climb trees, they have a deceptively long strike which reminds me of some of the more slender vipers, they are just amazing little snakes.

I found these ones in, um... Darling Harbour, yeah, that's the ticket, uh huh, Darling Harbour, Sydney. Best place to catch them, yessiree! You can also find them at Central Station, or Flinders St in Melbourne. Rundle Mall in Adelaide also has a few, as does the Gabba.

All the pictures were taken on the same night. A brilliant day of herping!


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## Acrochordus (Dec 23, 2009)

Nice stuff, how many did you find on the night?
Thanks Tim.


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## Sdaji (Dec 23, 2009)

Four. It wasn't recent by the way. I would have been thrilled with just one that night, I had never seen one before.


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## Poggle (Dec 23, 2009)

good find... they are still on my list to find one


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## reptilefan95 (Dec 23, 2009)

Nice stuff ill have a look around Darling Harbour next time i go around  Maybe near the IMAX??


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## GeckoJosh (Dec 23, 2009)

U could try the wildlife park at darling harbour, iv heard the have an extensive collection that is not at all tourist orientated 
Nice pics Sdaji, thanks for sharing!


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## Nephrurus (Dec 23, 2009)

Sdaji said:


> The older Victorian herpers will all be familiar with this snake, many of them have searched for years to find one, some successfully, some not. Strangely, many of the younger herpers these days don't even know what a Bardick is.



You've got to remember that most of the younger "herpers" primary interest is "can i keep these in a plastic box". 

-H


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## Sdaji (Dec 23, 2009)

Nephrurus said:


> You've got to remember that most of the younger "herpers" primary interest is "can i keep these in a plastic box".
> 
> -H



That's exactly what occurred to me while out there, in retrospect I'm surprised it didn't occur to me earlier. Only one or two species we saw out there would be things I would be more than remotely interested in keeping, I don't keep any, and not one of them is commonly kept. The herp community is not what it was 10-15 years ago. I think that's good though, with the number of reptile enthusiasts we now have, I wouldn't want many of them tearing around trying to find wild reptiles, so I'm glad there is little to no interest in most of the species you can find in this part of the world. It also means that if people do find them, there isn't a big desire to catch them and bring them home. A Bardick in the bush is worth two in the hand 

Having said that, I would be very interested in seeing someone else keep Bardicks... maybe there are people out there silly enough to put the time and effort in!


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## Jdsixtyone (Dec 23, 2009)

"Sidewind", that would be cool to see in real life!!


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## Sdaji (Dec 23, 2009)

snakemadness said:


> "Sidewind", that would be cool to see in real life!!



Absolutely! The first snake I ever saw doing it was a Bardick (I think?). At the time I think I didn't even realise we had Australian elapids which did it. Just about all the Bardicks I have seen have sidewound, and I have seen other elapids do it since (one of them on the same night as my first Bardick). Sea Kraits do it too, so I am told, as well as some of the famous north American vipers. I have heard accounts of colubrids doing it, and one veteran herper I am inclined to take seriously tells me that wild Womas will do it (that's something I would love to see! Actually, I'd love to see a wild Woma, whether or not it sidewound!).


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## jordo (Dec 23, 2009)

Nice! They look like great posers 
Oh well... the search continues


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## geckos_are_great (Dec 23, 2009)

wow there realy nice. hope i find one when i go to the littl edesert. get some good pictures. how venomous are they????


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## mrmikk (Dec 23, 2009)

Ok Sdaji, I'm taking your word for it ok ... I'm heading out to the Gabba to find me a Bardick!


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## Sdaji (Dec 23, 2009)

geckos_are_great said:


> wow there realy nice. hope i find one when i go to the littl edesert. get some good pictures. how venomous are they????



Venomous enough for you not to want to get bitten.


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## geckos_are_great (Dec 23, 2009)

lol ok. ill just keep clear of them and let dad take the pictures


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## kupper (Dec 23, 2009)

geckos_are_great said:


> wow there realy nice. hope i find one when i go to the littl edesert. get some good pictures. how venomous are they????



venemous enough not for you to want to take them home and add to your oddly victorian species list


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## geckos_are_great (Dec 23, 2009)

lol i wouldnt want a snake anyway. got plenty of them in my front yard. have had 3 in the last 2 days


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## kupper (Dec 23, 2009)

Totally missed my point don't worry about it


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## geckos_are_great (Dec 23, 2009)

oh i got your point. but why would u imply that


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## Jay84 (Dec 23, 2009)

Great pics Sdaji.

Woop woop for our herping trip over xmas ........ im feeling lucky this time !


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## geckos_are_great (Dec 23, 2009)

lol jay were abouts are you going???


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## kupper (Dec 23, 2009)

he is coming to my front yard where all the magical bardicks and geckos live, you wanna come over and ill show you my tin spot


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## Jay84 (Dec 23, 2009)

We are going to northern vic


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## kupper (Dec 23, 2009)

jay your giving away my spots LOL


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## Adsell (Dec 24, 2009)

Went out Tuesday night and found one myself.







Also found something else special in Vic






Plus a DOR Western Blue Tongue
Ads


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## Jak_24 (Dec 24, 2009)

Where abouts around Flinders St Station do you find them?


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## Sdaji (Dec 24, 2009)

Wow, I've never seen one of those Lacey Sandy crosses in Victoria before. I don't know why, but it's so exciting seeing a new species in Victoria, even if you've already seen it elsewhere. Great picture!  Have you seen many Rosenberg's out there?


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## JasonL (Dec 24, 2009)

Nephrurus said:


> You've got to remember that most of the younger "herpers" primary interest is "can i keep these in a plastic box".
> 
> -H



Better than the old herpers keeping them in a pillowcase :lol:


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## JasonL (Dec 24, 2009)

Thats a cracking heathy pic... nice looking animal to boot..... they are just your common garden variety monitors around here though  lol


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## Sdaji (Dec 24, 2009)

JasonL said:


> Thats a cracking heathy pic... nice looking animal to boot..... they are just your common garden variety monitors around here though  lol



You can go to Kangaroo Island and see about a million of them in one day, but even after that it's still very exciting to see one in Victoria (or in my case, _would be_ :lol: ).


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## Adsell (Dec 24, 2009)

John, thats the first one i have seen in 8 years of searching.
Ads


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## jordo (Dec 24, 2009)

Jay84 said:


> Great pics Sdaji.
> 
> Woop woop for our herping trip over xmas ........ im feeling lucky this time !



So you're coming then? Don't get your hopes up, night temps are crap.



Adsell said:


> Went out Tuesday night and found one myself.



Didn't take you long to show off  Cracking pics, especially the goanna


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## geckos_are_great (Dec 24, 2009)

yeah that heath monitor is a stunner.


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## eipper (Dec 24, 2009)

Hey Jordo.....I got an abusive text message on the way back.....mind you I did leave a message earlier in the week in the same tone!!!!

Ads, Well done mate, nice pics even if they were taken with a Canon

Cheers,


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## jordo (Dec 24, 2009)

eipper said:


> Hey Jordo.....I got an abusive text message on the way back.....mind you I did leave a message earlier in the week in the same tone!!!!



Lol, I'm still shattered they didn't pick me up on the way, but fair enough they wouldn't have had time to...


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## Jay84 (Dec 24, 2009)

The night temps are 14 and 15 the nights we are going. Day temps are up to 32! Early evening should be fine?

Jordo what time are we leaving tomoro? cos i have been told 2 diff times and i need to spend time with the family.


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## moloch05 (Dec 27, 2009)

[auote]The older Victorian herpers will all be familiar with this snake[/quote]

I assume that Bardicks have declined in Vic in recent years? Does anyone know why? I thought that they might be uncommon in Vic due to it being marginal habitat on the eastern periphery of their range. I can't imagine that grazing pressure has increased much in recent decades. More frequent droughts?

Regards,
David


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## moosenoose (Dec 27, 2009)

Jak_24 said:


> Where abouts around Flinders St Station do you find them?



Near the Craigieburn line 

Nice pics Sarge


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## wiz-fiz (Dec 27, 2009)

Nice find! how "rare" are they?


Will


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## Serpentes (Dec 28, 2009)

Bardicks are great. You can find plenty of them on the south coast of WA. They behave like little death adders, but with those beautiful golden eyes, and of course, the bonus side-winding and hyper-aggression.


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## Sdaji (Dec 29, 2009)

moloch05 said:


> [auote]The older Victorian herpers will all be familiar with this snake



I assume that Bardicks have declined in Vic in recent years? Does anyone know why? I thought that they might be uncommon in Vic due to it being marginal habitat on the eastern periphery of their range. I can't imagine that grazing pressure has increased much in recent decades. More frequent droughts?

Regards,
David[/QUOTE]

I haven't heard anything about a Bardick decline, where did that information come from? In some areas they are very common in Victoria, I know one spot in particular which is crawling with them. My guess is that they would be fairly drought tolerant, they come from arid areas which are naturally prone to burning, and small geckoes and skinks (their prey) don't seem to be hit too hard by drought. Perhaps they are declining in some areas, I certainly don't visit their entire Victorian distribution.


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## moloch05 (Dec 30, 2009)

Hello Sdaji,

I had the impression that the Bardicks were in decline from your post ...



> The older Victorian herpers will all be familiar with this snake, many of them have searched for years to find one, some successfully, some not. Strangely, many of the younger herpers these days don't even know what a Bardick is.




The implication to me was that something had happened for the older guys to know of the snake but the younger guys to remain ignorant of it. 


Regards,
David


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## Sdaji (Dec 30, 2009)

Oh! I see! Sorry, I can see how my words could have been interpreted that way. Oops 

No no, they have never been considered easy to find. The difference between now and 10-20 years ago (and presumably further back) is that back in the day, there was no money involved, and people were interested in reptiles for completely different reasons. To see a Bardick in the wild was an exciting acheivement. Back then I suppose the herp world was a bit more like the twitching community (although the twitchers haven't changed so much). Ticking species off your 'seen list' was important, and keeping them in a box at home was less of a priority. As you probably no, not so long ago you wouldn't even bother putting python eggs in the incubator (actually, you wouldn't even bother building a useless incubator) because you knew you wouldn't be able to get rid of the 'worthless' babies.

These days if it isn't pink with green polka dots and lacking in venom, many young herpers won't be interested. The people may have changed, but the Bardicks haven't. Lucky for Bardicks, they come from nasty, hot, arid areas which are poorly suited for farming.


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## moloch05 (Dec 30, 2009)

Thanks, Sdaji. I had mis-interpreted your post. 

I hope that someday herping changes yet again to be primarily a camera-oriented activity. When I was young and in the States, I kept a variety of herps. Now, however, I find that seeing these animails in the wild and trying for undisturbed photos is far more exciting and takes me to many interesting places.

Regards,
David


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