Tonights Herps (finally, 2 new species)

[DanTheMan]

Yea they are hard to find, and up my way on the cost they are a lot less common, I only know of 1 being found, doesn't mean there havn't been more though.
The road kill was kinda old but still easy to tell its an adder, will get pics up later, it was found in very dense, steep rainforest, got some pics of the habitat too.

 

[smacdonald]

I went on a mission on Monday from here down to Mount Glorious, searching through Mount Mee, Dayboro etc. But no luck obviously.
Left at 12pm, arrived home at 12am lol, unfortunatley it was the coldest night we have had in a while and didnt see anything night herping.

That's s bit of a coincidence. I met a Dan up at Mt Glorious on Monday night. But he found an Oedura tryoni and a ton of frogs. So it must have been a different Dan.


Stewart

 

[Jonno from ERD]

And here I was about to type you a PM Stew, seeing if you wanted to do a Christmas Eve night drive...but you didn't invite me on Monday!

 

[DanTheMan]

G'day mate,

Taipans are just one of those things. I have searched high and low for them, I have spoken to many old herpers who have found them locally...they really are my worst enemy. They are here, no doubt about it...I have photo's, I've had stories of them, I almost had one on a call out...it's a combination of being in the right place, at the right time and being incredibly lucky.

Black Whips are around the area where you probably saw that Tiger Snake.

Adders are fairly common. We've had several this year.

Dwarf Crowned are one of those things that just pop up every now and then when you least expect it.

Tigers are in and around the zoo, as you would know.

Marsh Snakes are everywhere, very surprised you haven't seen one.

Pale Headeds around this way are pretty rare. Better chance of seeing those on the western side of the GDR.

Good luck, and don't go making any silly YouTube video's

Yea I thought Taipans would be like that, Interesting about the Adders, that's good, can't wait to find one!
Yea Pale Headeds are suppose to be common on Darling Downs so will have to do a bit of driving for that one, in a book of mine the pic of one is taken in Oakey.
Thanks for that!
Haha don't worry, no videos from me!

 

[Jonno from ERD]

Pale Headeds are found a lot closer to Brisbane than Oakey, but not commonly. I have seen animals captured from Walloon before, which is about halfway between Brisbane and Toowoomba. There is also a record of them from Mitchelton I believe...and I think I may have heard of them from one of the big islands (Moreton, Straddy, Fraser?).

Adders are around, it's just being in the right spot at the right time. A lot of this experience comes with a price - lots of wasted fuel, boring drives where you see nothing and a whole ton of stick snakes.

 

[scorps]

Haha gotta love the stick snakes Jonno, or even better the angle headed toads

 

[DanTheMan]

That's s bit of a coincidence. I met a Dan up at Mt Glorious on Monday night. But he found an Oedura tryoni and a ton of frogs. So it must have been a different Dan.


Stewart

Haha, I meant no luck with the few snakes I havn't found yet, yes we saw some frogs, 1 being a new one for me, a toadlet, only got pics of the a few of them.

View from Mount Nebo

Morphling (is that what you call them?) L. peronii??? Don't know much about frogs.

Toadlet

Rainforest Scorpion

 

[smacdonald]

Morphling sounds like a good word to me. Metamorph is the more usual term. I think the toadlet found up there is Uperoleia fusca.

Stewart

 

[slacker]

And here I was about to type you a PM Stew, seeing if you wanted to do a Christmas Eve night drive...but you didn't invite me on Monday!

Forecast says we might have a late afternoon/evening shower/storm..... might not be ideal?

Besides, knowing Stew, you're asking him too far in advance.... you need to ask him 30mins after you plan on leaving ;-)

 

[smacdonald]

Pale Headeds are found a lot closer to Brisbane than Oakey,

Here are some close-to-Brisbane EPA records for pale-headed snakes:

Carbrook Wetlands Conservation Park 1
Great Sandy National Park
Main Range National Park
Tamborine National Park

Besides, knowing Stew, you're asking him too far in advance.... you need to ask him 30mins after you plan on leaving

Call me tomorrow and I'll let you know if I'm available tonight. Actually, I might be busy tomorrow. I think there's something on...


Stewart

 

[DanTheMan]

Forecast says we might have a late afternoon/evening shower/storm..... might not be ideal?

Besides, knowing Stew, you're asking him too far in advance.... you need to ask him 30mins after you plan on leaving ;-)

Some of the best nights I'v had were during or after a good storm though, can be good.

Here are some close-to-Brisbane EPA records for pale-headed snakes:

Carbrook Wetlands Conservation Park 1
Great Sandy National Park
Main Range National Park
Tamborine National Park



Call me tomorrow and I'll let you know if I'm available tonight. Actually, I might be busy tomorrow. I think there's something on...


Stewart

Thanks for that Stewart.
Tomorrow? 25th... rings a bell

 

[slacker]

Call me tomorrow and I'll let you know if I'm available tonight. Actually, I might be busy tomorrow. I think there's something on...

haha. Sounds about right ;-)

Some of the best nights I'v had were during or after a good storm though, can be good.

That's counter-intuitive. I've never bothered going out on nights like that, assuming we'd find 3 parts of SFA. Closest I've come to doing that is one night up at Glorious when it started to rain... found quite a few frogs, unsurprisingly, but zero reptiles.

 

[smacdonald]

Didn't your mum teach you that old saying:

If a storm wets everything but doesn't cool it down too much, reptiles abound.
If a storm makes everything too bloody cold, no reptiles will be found.


Stewart

 

[slacker]

Didn't your mum teach you that old saying:

If a storm wets everything but doesn't cool it down too much, reptiles abound.
If a storm makes everything too bloody cold, no reptiles will be found.


Stewart

Pffft. She had trouble trying to teach me that the weet-bix go in my mouth, not on my scalp.

 

[Fuscus]

There is a relationship between reptiles being out and electrical storms and I'm watching a cell form south of here right now.

 

[Jonno from ERD]

G'day guys,

Like I said earlier - knowing exactly when to go is something you learn after you've done a lot of trips where you find absolutely nothing. I thought I had it down pretty good until this season...I've done about a dozen trips where I've said it will be a good night where we've found next to nothing...and nearly every single time it's being when I've taken people

 

[slacker]

G'day guys,

Like I said earlier - knowing exactly when to go is something you learn after you've done a lot of trips where you find absolutely nothing. I thought I had it down pretty good until this season...I've done about a dozen trips where I've said it will be a good night where we've found next to nothing...and nearly every single time it's being when I've taken people

haha. Glad to hear we're not the only ones who've had bad luck ;-)

It's getting harder and harder to drag the other half out now, when we consistently find nothing but frogs.

 

[tooninoz]

Taipans are just one of those things. I have searched high and low for them, I have spoken to many old herpers who have found them locally...they really are my worst enemy. They are here, no doubt about it...I have photo's, I've had stories of them, I almost had one on a call out...it's a combination of being in the right place, at the right time and being incredibly lucky.

For what it's worth, before I had any real interest or knowledge in herps... and this is the one thing that got me interested in the first place;
I was building some additional units at a retirement village near Alexandra Hills in Bris in about Nov 04. We had a temporary drain with silt mesh over the top of it, next to where we parked. Got there at around 6.30 and I noticed a snake moving about - stuck in one of the lift-holes of the drain. Assumed enough that it was a ven, but no idea as to what?! It was moving slowly but constantly, side to side, twisting its body upside down...only about 400mm out of the hole.
Looking at it closely, it had scratches where it had repeatedly rubbed against the steel around the lift-hole and had just masses of ants digging in. Got the steel lifted up and found that it had a full belly, and just couldn't pass through.
By now, people were suggesting a shovel and whining, and I foolishly worked the snake back out and into a bailer bag. No aggressive response at all from the snake, (given that it was probably so close to death) and I took it to the boundary and released it into the adjoining bush. Layed the bag down and it eventually found its way out. The last I saw, as I walked away, was green ants swarming all over it...I felt so bad.
A bloke took a pic and emailed it to me later and I researched it. Much confusion over some of the colouring, but the size and shape of the head confirmed it in my eyes. Definitely a young-ish taipan. Sent the pic to Qld Museum (from memory) out of curiosity and it was confimed.
Hope that helps? Muddies the waters?

 

[Jonno from ERD]

Do you still have the pic mate?

 

[DanTheMan]

There is a relationship between reptiles being out and electrical storms and I'm watching a cell form south of here right now.

I reckon storms are great for snakes, if I hadn't had a few beers Id be in Conondale right now.
Interesting about that Taipan tooninoz, as Jonno said, would be great if you still had some of those pics!