smacdonald
Well-Known Member
On New Year's Eve I was kickin' it old school, by driving up a mountain to look for crocodiles. We didn't find any crocodiles, but we did come across some other reptiles. There seemed to be a few other like-minded people up the mountain. If you were up there, you may well have seen me. I was the one wearing a full-body latex suit with a big "S" on the chest (my traditional field outfit, contrary to popular belief).
Here's a brief pictorial overview of what I saw.
We found the cranky little guy below around midnight. I think I can say that I was photographing it from 2008 until 2009. That's a long photo shoot! No wonder he was cranky! I think I've got a bit of an obsession with close-up shots of snake tongues.
Eastern small-eyed snake (Cryptophis nigrescens) - close...
Eastern small-eyed snake (Cryptophis nigrescens) - closer...
Eastern small-eyed snake (Cryptophis nigrescens) - closest...
Golden-crowned snake (Cacophis squamulosus) are always a favourite of mine. They're so photogenic, it's hard to take a bad picture of them. But I tried.
Golden-crowned snake (Cacophis squamulosus)
Golden-crowned snake (Cacophis squamulosus)
Orb weaver spider
Orb weaver spider. Look at his beady little eyes!
Is this the world's largest moth? That's a normal, adult-sized hand. But it's not my hand - my nails aren't that pretty.
I also saw some southern spotted velvet geckos (Oedura tryoni) which I didn't photograph because they're a bit wussy, a Burton's legless lizard (Lialis burtonis) which I didn't photograph because they're a bit wussy, some green tree frogs (Litoria caerulea) which I didn't photograph because they're a bit wussy, a road-killed Stephens' banded snake (Hoplocephalus stephensii), two road-killed eastern small-eyed snakes (Cryptophis nigrescens) and a road-killed spotted python (Antaresia maculosa) - my first for this area.
Here's a brief pictorial overview of what I saw.
We found the cranky little guy below around midnight. I think I can say that I was photographing it from 2008 until 2009. That's a long photo shoot! No wonder he was cranky! I think I've got a bit of an obsession with close-up shots of snake tongues.
Eastern small-eyed snake (Cryptophis nigrescens) - close...
Eastern small-eyed snake (Cryptophis nigrescens) - closer...
Eastern small-eyed snake (Cryptophis nigrescens) - closest...
Golden-crowned snake (Cacophis squamulosus) are always a favourite of mine. They're so photogenic, it's hard to take a bad picture of them. But I tried.
Golden-crowned snake (Cacophis squamulosus)
Golden-crowned snake (Cacophis squamulosus)
Orb weaver spider
Orb weaver spider. Look at his beady little eyes!
Is this the world's largest moth? That's a normal, adult-sized hand. But it's not my hand - my nails aren't that pretty.
I also saw some southern spotted velvet geckos (Oedura tryoni) which I didn't photograph because they're a bit wussy, a Burton's legless lizard (Lialis burtonis) which I didn't photograph because they're a bit wussy, some green tree frogs (Litoria caerulea) which I didn't photograph because they're a bit wussy, a road-killed Stephens' banded snake (Hoplocephalus stephensii), two road-killed eastern small-eyed snakes (Cryptophis nigrescens) and a road-killed spotted python (Antaresia maculosa) - my first for this area.