Well we’ve finally had three dry days in a row. I could not wait to go spotlighting, hoping that my luck would change and I would finally come across some of the snakes I traveled around the world to see. The night did not disappoint me. I tried a new trail at 8:00 PM, hoping a change in rainforest type might put me on some different, and larger, fauna. Ten minutes later, my headlamp fell upon a tiny agamid lizard perched nearly 7 feet off the ground on a horizontal vine. My first Australian Dragon capture (and redemption from the previous escape at Yungaburra while looking for a platypus)! While only a juvenile this small Eastern Water Dragon is a very special specimen, a much needed change from the ubiquitous tiny skink Carlia rubrigularis that swarms the forest floor. Heading back to the main trail, I spotted movement in my periphery. An Eastern Small-eyed Snake! These elapids appear to be quite common at the Centre (the Aussie spelling of the site, not my own), and I’ve encountered nearly a half dozen already. This was by far the largest individual I had encountered yet, but he politely stopped his serpentine motion and allowed me to snap a quick few photographs. Content with my two herp sightings for the night, I stopped off at my cabin to grab a towel and headed for the showers. Walking down the stairs, I calmly glanced back over my shoulder to see another Small-eyed literally beneath my cabin. As I watched, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the more diurnal North American elapid, the Coral Snake (Micrurus fulvius), a warm memory of mine from north Florida. I let him on his way, and me on mine although I would not be surprised if we crossed paths again.
