They may give you a bite that may get badly infected and take time to
heal, but unlike poisonous snakes, pythons
inject no venom into their bites.
Below are the species we have in Cape York.
Black
Headed Python
This is the most common of all Australian pythons, and probably the
only one you will see on
your Cape York trip, unless you go spotlighting night time.
It has a
very
distinctive black head, and it is often active, crossing tracks and
roads during the day time.
by
TroublePython via
Flickr.com
Spotted
Python
A less common of Australian pythons to see, this is a small snake
with dark brown dots and lines on cream coloured background.
It can
live in wet forests as well as dry woodlands, and it likes to hide in
rocky outcrops, particularly if they have caves and crevices where bats
live.
by
TroublePython via
Flickr.com
Water
Python
Larger than the spotted python, this beautiful Australian python is
also nocturnal and not
so common to see.
It is not always associated with water, but it will
flee to water (if the water is available) when threatened. It hides in
vegetation, on river banks and in hollow logs.
Carpet
Pyhton
There are many species of carpet python, but the one we have in up here
in the tropical north Queensland is the jungle carpet python Morelia spilota cheynei.
They are found in tropical rainforests in the south eastern, and also
in the south of the peninsula including Atherton Tablelands.
Olive
Python
This is a large one - the second largest snake in Australia, and it is
only found in western Cape York (it is more common in the Top End of
Northern Territory and the Kimberleys in Western Australia).
It has
olive skin with no pattern and it prefers rocky areas near water.
Amethystine
Python
The largest snake in Australia, amethystine aka scrub python can grow
up to eight metres long.
It prefers
rainforests and moist habitat, where it is often up in trees but can
also be seen on the ground. It is active during the night time and
possible to see when spotlighting.
Green
Tree
Python
The most special one, found only in the eastern rainforests of Cape
York (Iron Range National Park) and Papua New Guinea, the green tree
python is possible to spot about a metre above the ground night
time.
It is not
the green tree snake, which is found elsewhere in Australia.
Olive
Python
Olive
Python is the second largest snake in Australia.
It is found in the most of
the tropical northern Australia, including the Kimberley
and the Top End of Northern
Territory, but in Cape York it is only found in the very west
and north, in the areas like Kowanyama,
Pormpuraaw,
Weipa,
Aurukun,
Mapoon, as well as the tip
of Cape York peninsula.
As
opposed to
many other pythons, it has a smooth
skin with no particular colour pattern, other than a paler
belly and a darker back.
It can look similar to the highly poisonous king
brown and is
sometimes mistaken
for it, although it is a
harmless
snake. Second
largest after amethystine
python, olive python grows up to four
metres long but is more often about three.
Like its name indicates, it often has some olive
green shades, although its main colour often ranges from reddish to chocolate brown.
The belly is
usually cream.
Like all
pythons it is a non
venomous
snake, totally harmless to humans.
Range
and Habitat
There are two subspecies of
olive python that are
geographically isolated from each other.
Liasis
olivaceus barroni
is found in a smaller pocket in Pilbara region in Western Australia,
while the more common Liasis
olivaceus
olivaceus is found all the way from the Kimberley region
in the
west, through the Top End of Northern Territory and western Queensland
in the east.
In Cape York, it is only found along the western coast of the peninsula.
It lives in tropical savannah woodlands, and particularly prefers dry rocky areas, near water courses, like gorges, where it
likes to hunt and
swim.
It is mostly nocturnal and often shelters
during the day time in rock
crevices, caves, burrows, hollow logs and termite
mounds.
Diet
and Breeding
Olive
pythons generally eat
small mammals, birds, and other reptiles, but are also known to take prey as large as rock
wallabies and
monitor lizards.
At gorges and waterholes
they
can use the hunting technique of a crocodile,
waiting for
animals coming for a drink and then striking from under the water.
Like other pythons,
they do not
have poison,
and they kill their prey
by suffocating.
Mating
occurs during the cooler
Dry Season months from May to July.
About 20 eggs are laid 2-3 months after mating.
After almost two months of incubation, the eggs hatch and the
hatchlings emerge.
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This complete 300 pages
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background chapters on the peninsula's history and wildlife; and the comprehensive detail about all
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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
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This site uses British
English, which is the English we use in
Australia.
Disclaimer:
Although
best efforts have been made to ensure that all the information on this
website is correct, this site is not to be blamed should there be a
mistake.
This is the ORIGINAL Cape York Travel Guide run Locally on the Peninsula.