It’s twilight, just following a thunder shower, as I walk from the Centre to the car park. We’re on our way to the Barron River to survey Bufo marinus populations along a re-vegetation site and I decided to take a short-cut through a field (an old mango orchard) up to the van. It’s nearly impossible to see in the 4 foot high grass, yet I manage to detect movement only a few inches in front of my foot…Australian Scrub Python! The largest Australian serpent, the species I had been after since day one, is now at my feet. This is quite a large specimen and I knew immediately the male was over ten feet in length, by far the largest snake I have ever seen in the wild. I bent down to grab the snake which took off towards the forest edge. Wrapping both hands firmly around the serpent, I dragged him out of the bush into a more open area.
He’s bigger than I originally thought! Andy and I carefully wind the tape measure down his spine (as he decided to wrap his body around my left thigh) and came to a total length of 12’1”. WOW. Finally the king of the Wet Tropics. This large snake is actually the dominant terrestrial predator in northeastern Queensland, preying on marsupials as large as wallabies. Arboreal by day, the snakes bask amongst canopy epiphytes and descend to the forest floor at night to hunt. This large male was most likely interested in Red-legged Pademelons, which are very common on site (especially in more open areas). I photographed the enormous serpent and released him, watching this 12 foot monster disappear into the Australian rainforest. Maybe I’ll meet his big brother tomorrow…
