which Australian snakes are found in Cape York?
a country very
rich in reptile fauna, and snakes are no exception. It is also known as
a country for poisonous
snakes, however they
very common to come across, and most of them are shy animals.
How else would we feel safe camping and roaming around in
the bush all the time?
While there are many snakes in Cape York, including some poisonous
ones, on your trip you
are most likely to see the perfectly harmless black headed
It is a very common
snake in northern Australia, including the Cape York peninsula, and it
is often around in the daylight, so it is easy to spot. It has a
and a distinctive black head.
found here, and which ones are non
The three large groups of Australian land snakes include pythons, colubrid snakes and venomous snakes. All
are found in the Cape York area.
of all types
of snakes in Australia, and they take large prey which they
suffocating. So, they don't need venom. Some of them may still give you
bite that gets infected, but they are not poisonous.
the 13 species of
pythons in Australia, on the Cape York peninsula you find the already
mentioned Black Headed
Python; as well as Spotted
Python, and two very special ones - the Amethystine
the largest snake in Australia; and the Green
Tree Python, which
is only found in Cape York's eastern rainforests
and nowhere else in
is another group of non
snakes, and in Cape York you find the Brown Tree Snake, Common aka Green
Tree Snake, Northern
Macleay's Water Snake,
and White Bellied
Mangrove Snake; Slate
and Slaty Grey Snake; Australian Bockadam
(aka Elapid snakes, which is the name of their family) that are found
the Cape York peninsula, include Coastal
Death Adder, as well as Red
Rough Scaled Snake
and Eastern Small Eyed Snake.
Most of those snakes are rare to come across, and they also tend to be
shy animals and move away from you when they hear you
coming.Almost all snake bites
about at ankle-height, so wearing long
boots that are thick enough is a good protection.
Not nearly all our snakes are
in fact the majority are non poisonous, (or at least not poisonous
enough to kill humans).
You cannot rely on it every time, but if you want to generalise, many snakes with no venom have a
* Australia's largest
(pythons) are not poisonous - so a large snake is likely a harmless
* If you see a snake in
on a building or anywhere much above
the ground, it is likely a harmless one as Australian
poisonous snakes tend
to be ground
dwellers and often reluctant to leave the ground. * The
poisonous ones also generally tend
to be more alert and nervous.
are the largest Australian
snakes and they are not venomous.
In Cape York, we have black
headed python, spotted
python, water python,
largest snake) olive
(the second largest), and the endemic green tree
only found in
parts of the Cape York peninsula.
The other group of non venomous
snakes is colubrids, that include the tree snakes (that
are not pythons).
In Cape York, we
tree snake, brown
tree snake, northern
Macleay's water snake, Richardson's and white bellied mangrove snake;
slate brown and slaty grey snake; bockadam and keelback.
Get this 50 pages guide totally for FREE. It
contains information that helps you getting started with planning of your trip.
You get to make early-stages desicions such as when to go, how long time you
should take, how to get
there and get
to stay (general info), what
will it cost..
and a short insight to what is there to see and do in Cape York.
This complete 300 pages
travel guide is all you need before and during your trip. Besides the
background chapters on the peninsula's history and wildlife; and the comprehensive detail about all the places (down to prices, opening hours and full contact detail), it has invaluable information on at least 10 four wheel drive tracks, at least 30 guaranteed FREE camping spots on the Cape (and at least 150 on your way to the Cape), at least 40 best swimming holes, all mapped; as well as practical things - from fuel, roads, wireless internet and mobile phone reception, how to deal with the national parks booking rules; and Aboriginal land entrance and camping permits and alcohol restrictions - to vehicle preparation and accessories and necessary recovery gear by my partner Mark who is the recovery guy on northern Cape York and the Old Telegraph Track). Not to mention locals' tips on how to spot that croc and palm cockatoo ;-)
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