Table Of Content

NaturalistNote Rare cases of‘climbing’ in Copperheads and Eastern Brown Snakes Introduction peratures rise snakes ofmost taxa will have an In the Melbourne area, there are three large increased propensity to climb. This is observed elapid snakes (venomous land snakes) that are in both captive snakes and those in the wild. locally abundant; all ofthem are about a metre Captive snakes will tend to climb structures in length as adults. These species are the Tiger and rest at elevated places (such as on, as op- SnakeNotechisscutatus Brown Snake Pseudon- posedtoin‘hides’).Wildsnakesaremorelikely , aja textilisandCopperheadAustrelapssuperbus. to be found in trees as opposed to under rocks Thefollowingmaterial isbasedon observations orotherwise at groundlevel. from2003-2009asagovernmentlicencedsnake BrownSnakes controllerworkingall suburbsofMelbourne. In the same period (2003-2009), no instances The genus Austrelaps as first identified by , of climbing of any sort had been seen in any Worrell (1963), is regarded as a generalised of the captures for Brown Snakes or Copper- elapid species. The snakes average less than heads, with the exception of the unusual ex- a metre in length (rarely more than this), are amples given below. While climbing into the dangerously venomous and, where they occur in largest numbers, do not appear to be par- bonnets ofcarsisapparentlycommon for Red- bellied Black Snakes Pseudechis porphyriacus tiinchualbairtlytihmabbeirtaetd-scpoeucnitfriyc,o(Hpoesnearrea2s0,09r)o.ckTyhaery- it is effectively unknown for Copperheads and, Browns,exceptforthetwoinstancesgivenhere. eas,swamps,anduplands. Theirdietconsistsof This is significant in that both taxaare ofsimi- othervertebrates, includingothersnakes. lar abundance to Tiger Snakes in and around Theyaremostabundant, andhaveacompetitive Melbourne, although Brown Snakes are only advantageagainstothersnakes,inparticularlycold native to what is best defined as the northern places, due to their apparent ability to be active at halfofthe city,and itsfar-westernfringe. lowertemperatures. Becauseoftheirpropensityto No examples ofclimbingtreesorotherstruc- eat smaller reptiles (including other snakes), they tures for this taxon are known. Only one case cnreiagcnihaoensns,d,idfetonhaeebaylticonhugototaslhele.omtThhteeordcreoovmmeiprnesaettiaenppgallsilpehesacibinietswaaitnsrcmaoenlrdd oarefnsdaulBittriniosgwdfnorcSonumamekexenctecpeltdiimobhneiarnlegciainsrtcoaunmasectxaartnrcieessmk.enocawsne aparbeeorauhste,’awdbhsyerboeetihaenhrgietlraoaxwarl,cyhiyrnbcaelnutkdweiedneganntthdaoxslaierteetrshaulelltyysmipnauCysohepea-dt cSauOlnlnbfurarohymotStoudnarbyeumnreoyavreCotalhleBeegrneodwononfRS2an0c0ae7kc,eo1usrreeseceneiRmvooeadvd-,a whenthespecimensaresmaller(Hoser2005). ingacrossthecarpark. Pursuanttomyinstruc- In spite ofthe apparent availability oftrees and tions, staffsurrounded the snake and watched ssehnrunbostatsopuosteentthioaslehhaabbitiatta,tsCaocpcpeessrihbelaedbsyhcalvimebcihnog-, iatrrfirveo.mTahesasfneadkiestfalnecdea,nwdhielnedewdaiutpinugnfdoerrnmeeattho evenwhentherearenocompetingspecies. a car that had driven into the car park as the Inbushhabitats,itseemsthatthewarmestplaces snake was crawling across the hot ground. The areatgroundlevelas thereislesswind, and hard driveralighted fromthecarand ran. cover,suchasrock,seemtoretainheatbetter. The snake remained under the car for a short Hence,incoolerregionsheat-seekinganimals such as Copperhead snakes will tend to prefer time,estimatedat‘afewminutes’,butthencrawled up into the car. The apparent reasons for this be- toEsvteanyattaxgarokunnodwlnevetlo.climb, such as Diamond haviourwerethatthesnakewasbeingsurrounded Pythons Morelia spilota Broad-headed Snakes by people on all sides, and the radiant heat from Hoplocephalus bungaro,ides Common Tree thegroundwassuchastoelevatethesnake’stem- SnakeDendrelaphispunctula,taandBrownTree peFroaltluroewitnogamfaytalarorrivnaela,rtfhaetalsnleavkele.was retrieved Snakes Boiga irregularis will tend to stay at ground level in cooler conditions. When tem- fitrwoamsianpspiadreetnhtelycapra’rstelyngiinnjeursepdacfer.omAtthtehahteastt,agaes 58 The VictorianNaturalist NaturalistNote evidencedby an abnormal ‘tilt’ in the head and undera recently-parked carand into the door- fore body not noticed by me on a previous oc- way where I had caught it. It transpired that casion. I had observed the snake a week earlier the car had just been driven from next to a in an inaccessible place under a portable class- golfcourseatCheltenham. Thedriverhadseen room. Ithad not been caught on that occasion, similarsnakes inthatareaand Ideducedthatit buthadactedandmovedintheusualmanner. had likely travelled either in the wheels or en- Thesnakewasretainedforabout48hoursbe- gine areaofthecar,beforealighting. fore release. Howeverthe ‘tilt’ had not resolved itselfbythetime itwasreleased. Conclusion Climbing structures such as trees by Copper- Copperheads heads and Brown Snakes in the wild situation In a similar situation to the above, I had a call israre.TigerSnakescananddoclimbregularly. to catch a‘Brown Snake’atUpweyon ahotday InVictoria,however,elevatedpartsoftreesand at the end of2006. This snake turned out to be similar structures do not constitute significant a Copperhead (a common misidentification in habitatoractivityareasforthese snakes. Melbourne), which was cornered underneath a car parked under a shaded carport. In more References than 40 minutes under the car, at no stage did HofsreormRSTou(t2h0-0e5a)stPAeucsktirnaglioard..e.rescoilnogliacragleavnednodmisotursibustniaokneasl it attempt to climb up inside the car’s engine implicatations.BoydiiSpring,33-38. space. HoserRT(2009a)Oneortwomutationsdoesn’tmakeanew On a separate occasion, I had a call to catch s(pSeecripeesnte.s..:ETlahpeidatea)x.onAuosmtyraloafsiCaonppJoeurrhneaaldsof(HAeurspterteollaopsg)y a ‘Brown Snake’ at Abbotsford, where I found 1, 1-28. and caught a yellowish brown Copperhead, Worrell E (1963) A new elapine generic name. Australian sited in a doorway at the back ofa restaurant. ReptileParkRecords1, 1-7. Noting that the taxon is apparently unknown from this part of Melbourne, I guessed that RaymondHoser the snake was a vagrant and made enquiries 488ParkRoad aboutit.Thesnakehadbeenseentomovefrom ParkOrchards,Victoria3134 BabyCopperheads. Photoby RHoser Vol 127 (2) 2010