The Golden Crowned Snake

Things I like about Sydney No. 14: Expecting the Unexpected...

As I walk down the drive of a morning, bleary-eyed and half-asleep, heading out for the first constitutional of the day, there are a few things I quite naturally expect. I expect that Sniff will be bounding ahead, peeing and sniffing as per usual, occasionally casting a backwards glance at me as if to say "Get a move on!"; I expect there to be the same two crested pigeons strutting on the lawn, pecking at the bare earth between the sparse tufts of grass for whatever it is that crested pigeons eat; I expect to stop and check up on the two curled-up balls of gray fur in the possum nest in the tree by our rotting gatepost to make sure they've survived another night of plunder; I expect Sniff to sniff afore-mentioned tree and to whine in frustration because he cannot reach the possum nest; I expect to be dive-bombed by a noisy miner or two squawking in their hideous fashion; and I expect to have to brush the odd cobweb from my face, built across the drive overnight by the ever-zealous golden orb weavers.

What I do not expect to come across, lying dead in the middle of the drive, is a snake. A SNAKE!!!!

After all, our neighbours, who I now obviously cannot trust an inch, told us in our first week here that the only snake they have seen in the neighbourhood in twenty years was a non-toxic python.

But this morning, lo and behold, there this was, spotted first by the eagle-eyed Daniel, then by me and then completely ignored by the mystifying Sniff:

Now there is something heart-stopping about coming across a snake: they are such rare creatures after all and unutterably shy, doing their utmost to avoid us humans if they can. So if you do see one it's normally out of the corner of your eye as it scuttles into the undergrowth. But here it was, this morning, revealed in its full, albeit deceased, glory: a snake.

Time for a bit of scientific investigation...

Once we had ascertained that it was indeed dead (it didn't run away, attack us or seem to mind the ants chewing at its underbelly) we turned it over carefully with a stick to see what the other side looked like...

This led Daniel, the native amongst us, to believe that it was an immature Red-Bellied Black Snake as the belly was indeed pinkish and the snake indeed rather small.

But I have done my research and can tell you that it is, as any fool would know looking at the markings on its head in the first photo, a Golden Crowned Snake...

Ordinarily the Golden Crowned Snake is exceptionally difficult to spot  because it is nocturnal, emerging at the same time as possums of a night to hunt for frogs, sleeping lizards and even other snakes. And not only is it nocturnal but it is also very secretive...which means that we could be surrounded by them without ever knowing. They are probably curled up underneath the house in their thousands; perhaps our drive positively writhes with them of a night.

The Golden Crowned Snake lays its eggs in January which then hatch in March. The young are 15 cm when born but this specimen was about 55 cm long which makes it an adult - one which sadly will never get to see its children...

But I know what you all want to know and.....YES! It is venomous...I quote from the Australian Museum, the natural history museum here in Sydney: "When cornered, these snakes flatten their heads, arch the neck strongly and make a series of striking movements with a closed mouth, but rarely actually bite. The Golden-crowned Snake is venomous, but not considered dangerous"  - presumably because no-one ever comes across the buggers...

I shall watch out over the next few days to see what happens to our Golden Crowned Snake. I've moved him (or her  - my scientific investigations were really rather limited) to the side of the drive so we don't drive over the body. Will it be eaten slowly by ants or swallowed whole by a magpie? Will there be a nightly vigil over the corpse officiated by its mate and offspring? Will our neighbours admit their foolish error when I point out the snake to them? Can you milk venom from a dead snake? Questions, questions.

For those of you thinking "Oh God, nature blah, blah, nature blah, animals, birds, blah, blah" I am going to be racking my brains to think of something I like about Sydney that has nothing to do with nature for my next few blog entries.

It may therefore be some time until you hear from me again....