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smacdonald

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I headed out to the Brigalow Belt in Queensland to meet some friends of ours and see what cool critters we could find. I've been out to this particular spot a few times, but have never managed to see a De Vis' banded snake (Denisonia devisi), despite this area being well-known for this snake species. So on this trip I was determined to find one.

The friends that we were with weren't particularly into waiting around while we photographed the critters we saw, so the vast majority of pics below are pretty average.

The only other things we saw that I didn't manage to get any pics of were a marbled velvet gecko (Oedura marmorata) and a large elapid that slithered off the road and into the grass before we could get close to it. It was large and chunky, so I'm guessing it was a mulga snake (Pseudechis australis).

I should warn you that I have a bit of an interest in road kill, so there are some pics of squished animals below.

I've posted this series on a few other forums, so apologies if you've already seen them.

Stewart


Roadkilled De Vis' banded snake (Denisonia devisi). We knew we were in the right place when we found a dead specimen of our target species.


Roadkilled mulga snake (Pseudechis australis). This particular area is home to a gorgeous colour form of this impressive snake. This dead one is just a little fellow.


Curl snake (Suta suta). This is the only pic we got of this snake before our friends started driving off without us!


Australian coral snake (Brachyurophis australis). Photo by Alecia Carter.


De Vis' banded snake (Denisonia devisi). At last! The first specimen of our target species! This one looked like it had been run over. We moved it off the road.


De Vis' banded snake (Denisonia devisi). We ended up finding four individuals of this species on the last night we were out.


Beaked gecko (Rhynchoedura ornata)


Fat-tailed gecko (Diplodactylus conspicillatus)


Eastern spiny=tailed gecko (Strophurus williamsi)


Eastern spiny-tailed gecko (Strophurus williamsi)


Box-patterned gecko (Diplodactylus steindachneri)


Box-patterned gecko (Diplodactylus steindachneri)


Box-patterned gecko (Diplodactylus steindachneri)


Eastern stone gecko (Diplodactylus vittatus) that has had its head run over. He was still running along the road. I took this pic while someone else grabbed a rock to put the gecko out of its misery.


Brigalow scaly-foot (Paradelma orientalis), a threatened species of legless lizard. The small 'flaps'' either side of the vent are the remains of legs lost over the course of millions of years of evolution.


Brigalow scaly-foot (Paradelma orientalis). Photo by Alecia Carter.


Juvenile eastern bearded dragon (Pogona barbata)


Roadkilled eastern blue-tongued skink (Tiliqua scincoides scincoides). We found four dead blue tongues on the roads. They were all large, and possibly males killed while in search of females. That's Alecia in the background wondering why I'm taking a photo of yet another dead animal.


Eastern blue-tongued skink (Tiliqua scincoides scincoides), Photo by Alecia Carter. Thankfully this skink was alive when we found him. He was very angry, obviously not understanding that we just wanted to move him off the road and to safety.


Eastern blue-tongued skink (Tiliqua scincoides scincoides), Photo by Alecia Carter.


Eastern snapping frog (Cyclorana novaehollandiae), Photo by Alecia Carter.


Eastern snapping frog (Cyclorana novaehollandiae), Photo by Alecia Carter.


Young eastern snapping frog (Cyclorana novaehollandiae)


Young eastern snapping frog (Cyclorana novaehollandiae)


Young eastern snapping frog (Cyclorana novaehollandiae)


Water-holding frog (Cyclorana platycephala)


Water-holding frog (Cyclorana platycephala)


Roadkilled hare


Roadkilled shingleback (Tiliqua rugosa). This skink was completely eviscerated, probably by crows or birds of prey.


Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus). Not a herp, but probably the closest you can get to a herp while still being a mammal!


Sunset through a fence. Photo by Alecia Carter. This is the last sunset we saw out there before heading back home.
 
Wow..

Great photography there mate, some supurb shots there including the last one.

How many nights did you find all these animals over? Seems like a top spot for herping thats for sure, but the roadkill is always depressing.. I have seen a heap of dead lacies on the roads lately.. not good at all...
 
Wow..

Great photography there mate, some supurb shots there including the last one.

How many nights did you find all these animals over? Seems like a top spot for herping thats for sure, but the roadkill is always depressing.. I have seen a heap of dead lacies on the roads lately.. not good at all...

Hi Steve,

We had planned on about four nights, but we found four individuals of our target species on the second night so we packed up and went home. The weather was also starting to get very windy on the third day and we weren't sure if our already broken tent would survive. Plus I had a library book to return. There are still species out there I haven't yet seen, so I'll definitely be heading back this season.

Stewart
 
Nice shots, Stew :D

PS: Where's my flan?
 
nice pics the sun set pic is amazing also the herps are great the de vis banded snake is awsome poor little wood gecko
 
what roads did u go on hwy etc

We went on a bunch of sealed roads around Moonie (we were staying at the Moonie Crossroads). I think pretty much any of the roads in that area would yield interesting critters in the right weather.


Stewart
 
re Pics

A top post stewart very entertaining,great photography love that last shot,in respect to the gecko with the flattened head you could of reinflated its head by mouth to mouth or bike pump,got to look on the bright side,he wont stray on the road again.:):):)
 
Great pics and just goes to show how our roads and herps dont mix
 
re Pics

That last pic is very australian,ime looking into the beautiful sunset and spot the wings not of an eagle! haha its a fly right in the middle perched on the wire,thats wicked,howd she train him to sit still? ;)hope the fly was unharmed in the making of the picture.:):)
 
Beautiful pics. It certainly is a great location in S.W. Qld. The frog pics are terrific.
 
Great pictures!
I really like the frog photos and that last picture is amazing.
 
Nice post, Stewart!

I herp the Brigalow fairly often. In April this year we were moving a Snakeneck Turtle off the road, and there was a De Vis swimming across a dam, in the middle of the day. It was an underweight adult female. We find them fairly regularly out there, but not often during the day.

The species I have found are -

Acanthophis antarcticus
Demansia psammophis
Denisonia devisi
Furina diadema
Hemiaspis damelii
Hoplocephalus bitorquatus
Parasuta dwyeri
Pseudechis australis
Pseudechis guttatus
Pseudechis porphyriachus
Pseudonaja textilis (speckled form, very nice)
Suta suta
Vermicella annulata

Varanus gouldii gouldii
Varanus panoptes rubidus
Varanus tristis
Varanus varius

Chelodina expansa
Chelodina longicollis

Diplodactylus steindachneri
Diplodactylus tesselatus
Diplodactylus vittatus
Gehyra dubia
Heteronotia binoei (over and over and over again...)
Oedura marmorata
Oedura monilis
Oedura robusta
Ryncoedura ornata
Strophurus taenicauda
Strophurus williamsi (found one in a bathtub in the middle of St George!)

Delma plebiae
Delma tincta
Lialis burtonis
Pygopus schraderi

Anomalopus leuckartii
Ctenotus robustus
Egernia rugosa
Egernia striolata
Eremiascincus fasiolatus
Eremiascincus richardsonii
Lerisa punctatovittata
Morethia boulengeri
Tiliqua rugosa aspera
Tiliqua scincoides scincoides

Amphibolurus burnsi
Ambhibolurus nobbi
Pogona barbata


As you can tell, we normally only herp at night. Have you ever seen Morelia or Antaresia out there? I would be very interested to see some photos if you have.

Cheers
 
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