Central blue mountains elapid

[schopier]

I was down in the gully north of Lawson in the Blue Mountains and this snake was basking in my path; 800mm to a meter probably. Acted much like a Red-bellied Black: straight into the first hole it could find. Waited about 15 minutes and it came up and buggered off. I'm not good at identifying them and still rely mostly on coloration, which in this case isn't particularly telling. Thanks in advance.

 

[BredliFreak]

Looks like a tiger snake mate, although there is a very faded pattern so it would be hard to tell at a first glance. Nice find!

 

[Bluetongue1]

+1 @BredliFreak. Well picked. The scale arrangement on the side of the head confirms it is Tiger Snake and not an Eastern Brown. The lack of markings on the labials eliminates Copperhead (and patternless-bodied Hoplocephalus species should they occur there).

 

[GBWhite]

Plenty of Broad Headed Snakes (H bungaroides) around Lawson Mike, collected dozens of them from around there over the years and they're far different and easy to identify from this Tiger or the Highland Copperheads that also inhabit the area.

Ps: Well done BredliFreak. You're doing great with your ID's these days. I knew it was a Tiger as soon as I saw the pic but didn't comment because I have adopted the attitude with a lot of ID requests lately of waiting to see if anyone has done their research before deciding to post a comment.

 

[Bluetongue1]

Hi George. Good to see the positive feedback and encouragement from you. With respect to H. bungaroides, it is so distinctively patterned I thought it obvious that it is not a contender and that this is how the comment would be read. Hopefully the simple descriptor I have now added resolves it.