# Taipan found in Brisbane suburbs



## waruikazi (Feb 20, 2012)

Having lived in Queensland’s south east for 17 years and providing snake relocation services I’ve heard more than my fair share of supposed ‘taipan’ sightings in properties throughout Brisbane’s western suburbs and Ipswich. Amongst the hundreds of suspected taipans none have ever eventuated in this highly overstated species…until now.

http://beforeitsgone.com.au/2012/02/20/taipan-found-in-suburban-brisbane/


----------



## Echiopsis (Feb 20, 2012)

waruikazi said:


> Having lived in Queensland’s south east for 17 years and providing snake relocation services I’ve heard more than my fair share of supposed ‘taipan’ sightings in properties throughout Brisbane’s western suburbs and Ipswich. Amongst the hundreds of suspected taipans none have ever eventuated in this highly overstated species…until now.
> 
> http://beforeitsgone.com.au/2012/02/20/taipan-found-in-suburban-brisbane/



Was it found dead?


----------



## waruikazi (Feb 20, 2012)

I'm assuming so. But i don't know any more than what is in the article.


----------



## Poggle (Feb 20, 2012)

Notice Raymond had his say in the discussion. I get reports all the times of Taipans where i am, and never caught one. Once again it is a lack of id skills. I am in the process of supplying ID charts at all of my call outs to client for their own benefit. I would be excited to see Taipan here, caught them in Townsville and by far one of my most exciting snakes to relocate.


----------



## BARRAMUNDI (Feb 21, 2012)

Thats pretty damn cool....I do know of a herper (also a member on APS) who lives near the Mt Glorius area who has sen a Tai crossing the road late arvo with a full belly. This herper knows his ID's and I would class this as a reliable sighting.

Certainly is a good find......


----------



## Echiopsis (Feb 21, 2012)

I'm hoping it was found dead and not just vouchered for the hell of it. Too much of that going on nowadays, it's just not necessary.


----------



## -Peter (Feb 21, 2012)

Notice that the significance of the find is stressed by the involvement of Channel Seven and not the Museum.


----------



## Suenstu (Feb 21, 2012)

Interesting that the chap with the cheesy web site saw fit to comment. I live at The Gap, have done for 30-odd years, and I've never heard of a Taipan here. Eastern Browns, RBBs, Carpets, and Tree snakes sure. Who knows what movements these animals may make in light of recent changes in weather patterns, and temperatures locally? Hate to play the "Climate Change" card, but maybe??? It would be interesting to find out at any rate.
(I'm tempted to sign off "snakeperson", because I am)


----------



## longqi (Feb 21, 2012)

I was in Burleigh heads a long time ago
taipan turned up there in caravan park
always thought it must have been a hitch hiker
maybe not??


----------



## Fuscus (Feb 21, 2012)

Poggle said:


> .. his say in the discussion...


OHH - someone with a fragile ego has been contradicted. I need to follow this 

I've encountered 1 skin which I IDed as taipan. I have been told that the best way to find the big T is an early start on a sunny winters day and to look on the sunny side of sugar cane fields. So far - no luck


----------



## BARRAMUNDI (Feb 21, 2012)

Thats definitely the way to find them up north and would definitely work down here. Probably just need to spend a little longer looking though.



Fuscus said:


> OHH - someone with a fragile ego has been contradicted. I need to follow this
> 
> I've encountered 1 skin which I IDed as taipan. I have been told that the best way to find the big T is an early start on a sunny winters day and to look on the sunny side of sugar cane fields. So far - no luck


----------



## jedi_339 (Feb 21, 2012)

Yes it was found dead, it was caught in bird/animal nylon netting and basically cooked in the sun on pavers.

Suensta are you talking about Bryan Robinson commenting or Mr. Hoser?

I also link you back to the original news story posted here on APS for the video

http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/reptile-news-5375/taipan-found-near-brisbane-175616/


----------



## PMyers (Feb 21, 2012)

Poggle said:


> Notice Raymond had his say in the discussion.





Suenstu said:


> Interesting that the chap with the cheesy web site saw fit to comment.



It's just a good thing the blog author didn't try to label this as the "best" taipan sighting in SEQ...


----------



## Fuscus (Feb 21, 2012)

PMyers said:


> It's just a good thing the blog author didn't try to label this as the "best" taipan sighting in SEQ...


or that he was a SnakeBreaker (is that the right term ?)


----------



## Suenstu (Feb 21, 2012)

Poor thing being cooked on pavers. 

Jedi, think its quite apparent who my comments refer to. Either way I am expressing my opinion which I am entitled to do. 
If these animals are changing their locales, I would be really interested in any reasoning behind it. I understand food sources are fairly abundant everywhere right now, so that alone can't be a reason. Climate change? Some folks say that's not even happening? Anyone care to venture an opinion? 
Snakecommentor.


----------



## jedi_339 (Feb 22, 2012)

Suenstu said:


> Poor thing being cooked on pavers.
> 
> Jedi, think its quite apparent who my comments refer to. Either way I am expressing my opinion which I am entitled to do.
> If these animals are changing their locales, I would be really interested in any reasoning behind it. I understand food sources are fairly abundant everywhere right now, so that alone can't be a reason. Climate change? Some folks say that's not even happening? Anyone care to venture an opinion?
> Snakecommentor.



I was just asking :lol: seeing as both parties websites have been included, one within the article and one in his 'signature'

I don't think that Taipans are changing their locales, the habitat around the area where it was found could easily have been a 'stronghold' of suitable habitat within SEQ where they have probably survived for 'x' number of years.

The reason they are not readily seen could be due to a few different factors, all speculative of course, but could be anything from low population densities, right through to their cryptic nature and overall alertness.

Just because you or anyone else hasn't seen something doesn't mean it's not there.............by that reckoning rough scaled snakes have only been in my area for the past few months............


----------



## r3ptilian (Feb 22, 2012)

Is it possible it was translocated by the floods of last new year? When I was about 12-13 my father and I were herping on the Brisbane river at Fernvale (twin bridges)
and we are 90% we saw a Taipan, both of us just watched in awe as it disappeared into a hole under a large fallen tree trunk.


----------



## Suenstu (Feb 22, 2012)

jedi_339 said:


> I don't think that Taipans are changing their locales, the habitat around the area where it was found could easily have been a 'stronghold' of suitable habitat within SEQ where they have probably survived for 'x' number of years.
> 
> The reason they are not readily seen could be due to a few different factors, all speculative of course, but could be anything from low population densities, right through to their cryptic nature and overall alertness.
> 
> Just because you or anyone else hasn't seen something doesn't mean it's not there.............by that reckoning rough scaled snakes have only been in my area for the past few months............



Quite right!


----------



## PMyers (Feb 22, 2012)

Suenstu said:


> Snakecommentor.



Awesome!
Better call the patent office, quick! :lol:


----------



## Fuscus (Feb 22, 2012)

Suenstu said:


> I understand food sources are fairly abundant everywhere right now, so that alone can't be a reason.


Actually it can be a reason. More food equals more breeding equals more dispersal


Suenstu said:


> Climate change? Some folks say that's not even happening?Snakecommentor.


The folks who say that are either vested interests willing to risk our grand children's lives for a few extra hamburgers* or people who are silly enough to believe their propaganda


r3ptilian said:


> Is it possible it was translocated by the floods of last new year?


That is possible. There is a report that a spotted black was relocated from Brisbane late last year.There is another possibility. Taipan are a very secretive snake. It is possible that they were there all along and just not reported*Analogy is intentional and has a deeper meaning


----------



## toxinologist (Mar 10, 2012)

*Taipan records in SE Queensland*

Hi all,
It amazes me no end that every time a taipan is reported in SE Queensland, someone has to leap up and declare it a range extension or a translocation, when the reality is that Oxyuranus scutellatus has a well documented range extending as far south as Grafton in northern NSW, and even a cursory web search would say so.
Pullen Vale is certainly perhaps the closest notified record to Ipswich, but it is hardly a surprise. Taipans have been recorded within a kilometre or two of Muirlea (QMJ38534 and QMJ27314) which is a mere 20 km or so west of Pullen Vale. Likewise there are specimens from the Samford area which only 15 km to the north of Pullen Vale (QJM57251, QMJ62961 and QMJ45861), and from just north of Fernvale (QMJ51720) about 23 km NW of Pullen Vale. 
Rather than listing extensive locality data here, I have taken the easy way out and have plotted the Queensland Museum's records of this species in SE Queensland (south of Maryborough) on a map for people to see, along with the Museum's accession numbers for each specimen. 
In addition to these records there have been a number of others. 
Richard Jackson from Australia Zoo has collected a couple of taipans on the northern side of Brisbane and in the Sunshine coast if my memory serves me right, and I think Joe Sambono has as well.
The reality is taipans are a long-established component of the herpetofauna in savanna woodlands and other suitable habitats right down the Queensland coast and on into NSW. They are not commonly seen, mostly because they actively avoid human contact (if they didn't people would be getting nailed by them very regularly throughout their range, when in fact the opposite is what really happens - bites are rare), quietly disappearing often long before anyone gets close enough to see them. Nevertheless they are there, and do get vouchered to collections such as the QM from time to time. 
Perhaps it would be worthwhile for someone to look more closely at snakebite in pets than in humans to get a better idea of just how often taipans are coming into contact with companion animals. The vet on the Channel 7 video mentions 4 cases from just the one vet surgery ... so it follows that if other surgeries see the same sort of number of cases, then taipans are perhaps indeed more common that most SE Queenslanders think. 
What is noteworthy is that the QM has had nearly as many taipan specimens from SE Queensland over the past 65 years as it has had specimens from FNQ, where the snake is supposed to be more common.
Cheers

David


----------

