Thanks for the info guys.
Rob-
So you reckon the flattening is a threat display! I'd better take heed next time.
It's a good thing they're so good natured, even placid, as Browns said earlier.
I actually got quite close for the photos.
I suppose it's to make itself look bigger .
It must have been thinking,
"BACK-OFF you silly herpetologist, don't you realize how fast, accurate & deadly I am!?"
This close-up, shows the 'spine' (modified scales) on the end of the tail.
Rob, it's interesting what you said:-
Ive seen greys and reds in the same area and in the same clutch.
If you get the two colour phases in the same litter, then perhaps, if this theory holds true, natural selection allows the better adapted young to predominate in certain areas.
I read about it in Prof. Rick Shine's book, 'Australian Snakes - A Natural History'.
He said about the Common Death Adder:-
"...the grey adders (which are commonest in cooler southern parts of the country)..."
and " ...the red animals (which are commonest in hotter northern regions)..."
Peterescue-
Thanks for your observations on local specimens.
You said:-
Up in a couple of central coast valleys they appear to change with they type of forest ie wetter or dryer. I was assuming it would relate to ground cover to some extent.
I assume you mean that there was more red specimens in the wet sclerophyll forest and more grey specimens in the dry sclerophyll forest.
Is that right?
So you're suggesting that, at least locally, it's less to do with temperature and more to do with micro-climate. Yes :?:
By the way, the specimen shown in all my photos is the same individual.
Photos were shot on location, in Warrimoo, Blue Mountains (N.S.W).