broad-headed snakes

[markars]

the bombing range and heathcote national park are massive, and i searched a hell of a lot of the areas around the edges without even seeing a reptile of note, let alone a broardie. Anyone who would be keen enough to walk intoo the guts of this park to pinch one, would probably be smart enough to know they are there anyway. and i am confident that they are safe with in these areas.

I believe that they are naturally an "uncommon" snake, meaning that they are rarely seen. I think they are still in reasonable numbers where they do exist, and that the reason they are "endangered" is due to the fact that their excusive habitat, and restricted range is in most densly populated and fastest growing area in australia. I think they are endangered only because their habitat is endangered.

 

[JasonL]

If you look into the archives, they were as common as garden skinks in some areas only 100 years ago.

 

[ryanharvey1993]

I heard about the fiberglass rocks, would the snakes actually use them because they would not be able to keep the temperature right under them and stuff, they would still be common up in the blue mountains wouldnt they as there are huge amounts of area people dont go to

 

[serpenttongue]

I saw and photographed one basking on the edge of a crevice around 11am during summer several years ago. I'd post a pic but i have reached my limit of pics that i can post. I can email it to anyone who wants to see it.

 

[ryanharvey1993]

can u email it to me? [email protected]

thanks

 

[serpenttongue]

howcome hardly any people keep them now, yet lots of people got them when the amnesty was declared? have they just died out in captivity or what, on the lsit of species kept in nsw it said only 3 people where keeping them in NSW

Perhaps wild ones brought into captivity are hard to get feeding or weaned onto rodents, and as a result they have died????

 

[jase75]

Iv heard of 2 being found not far from Bathurst, about 25km north, 1 was DOR. Would love to see 1 in the wild.

 

[serpenttongue]

can u email it to me? [email protected]

thanks

I'll do it tomorrow.

 

[jase75]

Id love to see it Serpenttongue- [email protected] thanks.

 

[markars]

I know where they are, but I don't like lifting rocks to find herps, I'm sick of seeing this.........

I hate seeing this as well. I used to visit flat rock creek with in the royal national park on a regular basis for years. The top of the flat hills were covered in large slabs of exfoliated sandstone and large hollows filled with leaf litter where the winds had trapped them , there was an abundance of geckos and skinks all over the rocks, and consequently post christmas every year it was a haven for newly hatched snakes and small elapids that could easily be seen without flipping rocks at both night and day.
15 years later there is not a rock bigger than a pebble and also no leaf litter deposits as they have all been raked out( i have even found a rake tied to a tree by the rapist ready for the next mission) and i have not found a gecko or snake there for ages.
I seem to spend most of my feild herping time these days flipping rocks- back into thier original positions after some arehole has left them before me. I have even found the large crevices on the roof of caves and overhangs that have been "pinch bared" off and left on the ground.

The attitudes of the people who are obviously visiting an area because they enjoy it, yet they do not care enough to maintain it or respect it is mystifing and unfathomable. They must lack the intelligence to realise that if they break it, they will not be able to visit it again?????

 

[ryanharvey1993]

it sucks what people have done to some places like that, lane cove national park being so small has been totally destroyed, went in there last time I was at sydney and there where flipped and smashed rocks everywhere there

 

[markars]

If you look into the archives, they were as common as garden skinks in some areas only 100 years ago

Thats because sydney was all weathered sandstone and skinks prior to our arrival, unfortuately sanstone was the first thing mined for roads, houses buildings, and the strong hold of their ranges was the very area we settled, so naturally they were commonly encountered as we were clearing the sandstone for our use. and they were unable to continue living as we removed their habitiat.
The less specialised animals were able to adapt to our urbanised environment, but they were not able to.

 

[markars]

I found this quote in a thread on the topic that i found down the bottom of this page.

"H. bungaroides was stable over 1992-1996, but declined dramatically in 1997, coincident with evidence of illegal collecting, possibly stimulated by a government amnesty that allowed pet owners to obtain permits for illegally held reptiles. Survivorship analyses revealed that 85% of adult females disappeared from the population in 1997. There was no such effect on male survivorship, suggesting that snake collectors selectively removed adult females..."

The thread was

Broad Headed Snakes NephrurusAustralian Snakes2207-Jul-05 12:51 AM

I think that i have read the same information as what prompted nephrurus to create this thread( as i do not recall ever having seen this thread.).

As i recall from the amnesty days, people that i knew were all a bit sketchy about declaring their reptiles as there was not a lot of trust about with the authorities. This may account for the fact that not all that were captured were declared.

 

[natrix]

I've seen one in the Syd suburb of warriewood right around this time last year.
It was sitting on rocks and seemed to be getting the last of the late afternoon sun.

 

[dansocks]

Have found 1 under sanstone rock Wedderburn N.S.W. unfortunately had no time for photos

 

[zulu]

re broad

That's what i mean, i don't think there were that many declared to begin with. No doubt people were out there trying to find them, and doing a lot of damage at the same time, but it would seem that they just didn't find that many of them, or they just weren't declared for some reason.

There was quite a few collected at the time Mr Bredli,its just that some choose to release them and some dont,simple as that.I know of at least 6 adults that were declared that came from the southern populations by friends,one pair of adults died on the way to the vet to get microchipped what a waste.There is areas where there is substantial populations and they were collected for quite some years and they was recorded and released mostly,a few were kept occasionally,that was in the late 60s and early 70s.Ide say it would be Richard Wells who passed on some imformation to NPWS and the universities who did several surveys and studies like that by WEB and Shine on those populations.I asked one bloke how he found his in the amnesty and he said he bought a book at NPWS which he showed me,and it had all the locations on it,thats what happens when the imformation is revealed.
Populations are preyed upon by feral and domestic cats,espescially juveniles,bush rock removal is the main problem as the easy to get rocks are those on ridges and after theyve gone there is just little pieces of rocks left.They also hide in rock crevices and overhangs,ive seen one sunning itself by day in an elevated hollow log that had been graded up by a bulldozer on an adjoining farm,some areas ive collected them at around sydney have been filled in and collierys built there.

 

[jamgo]

an old pic of one

 

[jamgo]

I used to come across alot of them in winter normally when i lived in sydney.

 

[scam7278]

heres a couple from a mate at the Uni found in a Blue mountains back yard

 

[BlindSnake]

Perhaps wild ones brought into captivity are hard to get feeding or weaned onto rodents, and as a result they have died????

I know of a few in captivity, and have had the privelidge of seeing captive born babies that are thriving.

I think maybe the owners are not the sort to frequent these forums, or blab to everyone about it..

I cant remember who it was that said they are boring and over rated, but I disagree..
They are magic little snakes, and I have a real soft spot for them.
Id take one over a red belly, taipan, brown or mulga anyday!