Elapognathus coronatus, Western Crowned Snake

A nice looking snake, but difficult to photograph.

The Western Crowned Snakes seldom exceed 50 cm in length, but grow larger on offshore islands. On the mainland they are usually encountered in the morning, sunbaking or crossing sandy tracks. If you see one before you get too close, it will remain still and you can slowly approach to within camera range. However, if you don't see it and walk anywhere near, it will very quickly disappear into the vegetation, where any chance of a close encounter will be lost.

A Western Crowned Snake, caught hunting frogs.

Western Crowned Snake, Elapognathus coronatus

The above hunting photo is one of the more interesting as usually they resemble a slender stick on the track and I have many photos of stiff looking snakes without any interest or character. The one below is typical.

If you are lucky, a more interesting shot can be obtained as it rapidly heads off onto low vegetation, but capturing any detail is another matter, so not very appealing photographically.

I mentioned above that these snakes on offshore islands grow larger, which seems to conflict with the offshore island Tiger Snake, Notechis scutatus (see previous post 05), which are smaller than the mainland ones. So why is this? I suspect there is a critical mass for snakes in these island environments of around a metre. Any larger and they have difficulty finding enough food, but around this size is probably ideal to move around the environment and survive on their diet of skinks. Whilst on the mainland skinks are not so common, plus there is additional competion from larger snakes like the Tiger and Dugite (see previous post 06) who dominate the larger food items, ie larger frogs and small mammals. So the mainland Western Crowned Snake has adapted to prey upon the smaller frogs, with some skinks and possibly a few invertebrates. This niche it shares with the Bardick, Echiopsis curta (see previous post 02) and the Masters Snake, Drysdalia mastersii. The Western Crown Snake (unlike the other two) is endemic to WA and is found around the coast from the Great Australian Bight to a little north of Perth.

The coloration of reptiles can vary considerably and the crown snake is no exception. Typically the top of the head is a blue/grey, and across the back of the neck is a darker band that extends forward and passes through the lower part of the eye, to the snout. Below the eye, the upper lip is prominently white. The eye pupils are also distinctive, being round and circled by a lighter colored ring.

With some crown snakes the top of the head is much darker and similar in color to the dark band, making identification from this feature alone difficult. However they still retain the prominent white upper lip and the eyes remain the same.

Being largely a frog eater, this snake favours wet/dry heath, which is a common habitat in the Esperance region and explains its abundance here. It seeks shelter under logs and rocks, plus in the abandoned nests of stick-nest ants (pictured below), which are also common in the district.

A snake doing what a snake does!

Hello! Hello! What's going on here then?

Animals and plants are interrelated with each other and the environment; they occupy a niche that is governed by other members who collectively make up their eco-system. If you remove a portion, like an animal or plant species, even logs or rocks, this can affect the entire eco-system and destroy the fine balance required to maintain it. So please think carefully before you cause change to natural environments.

Mouse hunter extraordinaire

Mouse hunter extraordinaire, the Dugite, Pseudonaja affinis

The lightning fast Dugite of the southern parts of Western Australia really love rodents, although other small mammals and reptiles are not overlooked. The scent of the introduced House Mouse, Mus musculus will have the small to medium sized snakes going to great lengths to doggedly track them down and will even enter through your front door if any mice have taken refuge inside. The larger snakes (to 2 metres below) will seek out the bigger native Bush Rats, Rattus fuscipes. So why this interest in rodents? Maybe their shape has something to do with it!

Young snakes (to 11/2 metres) are long and slender and ideally suited to fitting into a mouse burrow, whereas the larger snakes thicken and will not fit, but do so comfortably down a Bush Rats burrow. The Dugites above and below are large snakes of around 2 metres in length. Both of these lived for a period of time down Bush Rat burrows, where they probably hibernated through winter.

As an example of their interest in rodents, I always have an Elliott trap set to catch any passing mouse in order to stop them breeding up in and around my home. Well I had caught a mouse in the trap the night before, which I had disposed of and then reset. About lunchtime I noticed it had been set off again and assumed I had caught another. So picking it up to see the captive, I discovered the trap was very heavy, much heavier than even a Bush Rat, so I very gingerly peered inside where my gaze was meet by a beady eyed Dugite's. It turned out to be a little over 4 foot in length, but was not really aggressive and was happy to head off into the bush.

Dugite Snake, Pseudonaja affinis

The Dugite belongs to the genus Pseudonaja, the Brown Snakes, which generally have a bad reputation for being very aggressive. However, I have never found the Dugite to be so, from my experience they just go about their business with great determination and will completely ignore you. If confronted they will seek the fastest mode of escape, preferring to flee rather than fight. This I should add only applies to the younger snakes, once they mature, they should be treated with the greatest respect as all large adult snakes are very sure of themselves (being a top predator) and do not submit readily, but will still get out of your way if given the opportunity.

The length of these snakes varies and like the Tiger Snake, are usually smaller on offshore islands, where two subspecies are recognised. Coloration also varies from dark colored ones to the brown ones near me that usually are heavily flecked with darker scales and some (as with the top photo), with a dark brown head.

I have noticed with the Dugites and Tiger Snakes that they occupy a territory and if you are part of it, will return periodically. If there is nothing for them to eat, they will move on, but if not they will stay until they have caught it, or it does a runner. These snakes have good memories and certainly recognise permanent residents and I believe go out of their way not to interfere with you. Even if you come across them suddenly there is no attempt to strike, but only to get out of your way. I like snakes, they are very accommodating!

The highly variable Tiger Snake

The highly variable Tiger Snake, Notechis scutatus.

This is a common snake occurring across southern Australia including Tasmania and neighboring islands. Some herpetologists consider this snake to be two species with several subspecies, whilst others regard it as a single highly variable species. The snake from Western Australia is generally known as Notechis scutatus subspecies occidentalis.

It is usually a highly colorful snake reaching a maximum length of around 1.4 metres, which places it size-wise, between the Tasmanian subspecies of up to 2 metres and some SA island populations of less than 1 metre. Coloration within these populations also varies considerably, with some being completely unbanded (often regarded as a characteristic of this snake).

This variation in size can in large degree be related to the available food source, with Tasmania having a large selection of mammals and mutton birds from which to choose, whereas on the SA islands there is little other than skinks on which to prey. However, some characteristics are common to all like the flattening of the neck, which strongly signifies 'don't mess with me!'

Tiger Snake, Notechis scutatus

The WA Tiger Snake will climb trees, particularly the 6-10 metre Coastal Paperbark, Melaleuca cuticularis, which has a thick paper-bark covering of the sloping branches and trunks, permitting the snake to gain leverage. These trees also provide excellent habitat for birds to nest and it is their chicks the snakes seek. I discovered from the racket being made by a myriad of small, very concerned birds, a Tiger Snake about to take some recently hatched honeyeater chicks that were a couple of metres off the ground. The snake being disturbed by me dropped to the ground and made off. When I looked into the nest there were three chicks totally fazed with glazed eyes and apparently in a trance from the Tiger Snake's mesmerising look. Thinking they would probably recover I left them, but returned a couple of hours later, only to find an empty nest. The snake had returned and taken the lot!

A hunting Bardick Snake

A hunting Bardick, Echiopsis curta.

Just the spot for an ambush!

Bardick Snake, Echiopsis curta

This is what the largely nocturnal Bardick, Echiopsis curta does, ie it ambushes its prey and in this instance probably a resident Moaning Frog, Heleioporus eyrei that can normally be found in the area. I returned a couple of hours later and the snake was in exactly the same position.

This small stout snake is reasonably common in SW Western Australia, but also occurs in a couple of areas in the Eastern States where it is regarded as rare/endangered. The slender neck, broad head and thick body makes this species quite distinctive. Preferred habitat is heath and mallee/spinifex, where lizards, frogs and sometimes mammals and birds make up its diet.