Bardick Pictures

[Sdaji]

[auote]The older Victorian herpers will all be familiar with this snake

I assume that Bardicks have declined in Vic in recent years? Does anyone know why? I thought that they might be uncommon in Vic due to it being marginal habitat on the eastern periphery of their range. I can't imagine that grazing pressure has increased much in recent decades. More frequent droughts?

Regards,
David[/QUOTE]

I haven't heard anything about a Bardick decline, where did that information come from? In some areas they are very common in Victoria, I know one spot in particular which is crawling with them. My guess is that they would be fairly drought tolerant, they come from arid areas which are naturally prone to burning, and small geckoes and skinks (their prey) don't seem to be hit too hard by drought. Perhaps they are declining in some areas, I certainly don't visit their entire Victorian distribution.

 

[moloch05]

Hello Sdaji,

I had the impression that the Bardicks were in decline from your post ...

The older Victorian herpers will all be familiar with this snake, many of them have searched for years to find one, some successfully, some not. Strangely, many of the younger herpers these days don't even know what a Bardick is.

The implication to me was that something had happened for the older guys to know of the snake but the younger guys to remain ignorant of it.


Regards,
David

 

[Sdaji]

Oh! I see! Sorry, I can see how my words could have been interpreted that way. Oops

No no, they have never been considered easy to find. The difference between now and 10-20 years ago (and presumably further back) is that back in the day, there was no money involved, and people were interested in reptiles for completely different reasons. To see a Bardick in the wild was an exciting acheivement. Back then I suppose the herp world was a bit more like the twitching community (although the twitchers haven't changed so much). Ticking species off your 'seen list' was important, and keeping them in a box at home was less of a priority. As you probably no, not so long ago you wouldn't even bother putting python eggs in the incubator (actually, you wouldn't even bother building a useless incubator) because you knew you wouldn't be able to get rid of the 'worthless' babies.

These days if it isn't pink with green polka dots and lacking in venom, many young herpers won't be interested. The people may have changed, but the Bardicks haven't. Lucky for Bardicks, they come from nasty, hot, arid areas which are poorly suited for farming.

 

[moloch05]

Thanks, Sdaji. I had mis-interpreted your post.

I hope that someday herping changes yet again to be primarily a camera-oriented activity. When I was young and in the States, I kept a variety of herps. Now, however, I find that seeing these animails in the wild and trying for undisturbed photos is far more exciting and takes me to many interesting places.

Regards,
David