# Can You Identify This Snake Please



## billslowsnake (Oct 11, 2013)

I live in rural WA,my cat caught this snake yesterday in the yard,it was chewing on its tail,it was about 10 inches long, and the poor snake was attacking it in return,the cats alright but i had to kill the snake,its last 75 mm was gone,cat ate it.
I think a Guarda? I saw a big 5 foot Guarda going under the house six months ago,identified by an aboriginal ranger,could you identify it please?







Kind Regards Billy


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## imported_Varanus (Oct 11, 2013)

Looks like some kind of Delma to me, maybe tincta?...So I'm saying a legless lizard. great Dugite mimicks.


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## billslowsnake (Oct 11, 2013)

Thank you,i thought it was a legless lizard too,but it was pretty fierce when i caught it,it was pretty quick for a lizard though!it was definately a biter,had a good go at me,got up on its tail,or what was left of it,a neighbour said it was a Guarda? its not a baby brown is it,i saw a youtube video of an identical snake,they said that was a western brown (Gwardar).
But i dont know,this is why i asked you here,just some expert advice.

Regards Billy


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## chimerapro (Oct 11, 2013)

100% Delma sp (legless (gecko) lizard)


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## Elapidae1 (Oct 11, 2013)

It is a legless lizard as already said.

I'm assuming your name Guarda is actually meant as Gwardar (Western Brown), If it was a Western Brown even one so small has the ability to kill you.


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## butters (Oct 11, 2013)

At least two thirds of a Delma is tail so it would have been fine if you hadn't dispatched it. Their tails grow back.


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## Bluetongue1 (Oct 12, 2013)

Fraser’s Delma (_Delma fraseri_). Three dark bands on head and neck. Nasal band diffuse. Second (head) and third band (neck) bordered behind by narrow orange-brown band. Middle black band forks on side of head. A completely harmless legless lizard that mimics the look of a juvenile and even behaves like a snake about to strike when cornered. The tail 3½ to 4 times the length of the body.

IMPORTANT: If you what looks like another one, do assume it is. It may well be a baby brown and even at that size, browns contain enough venom to deliver a lethal bite. Legless lizards have a normal broad fleshy tongue and ear openings, while snakes have a thin, round forked tongue and no ear openings. Just to make life difficult, one group of legless lizards have no visible ear openings. 

Blue

PS. This says you in the sw of WA, south of a line from Shark Bay to Esperance but not south of Bubury, to about Denamrk.


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