Death Adder Snakes in Cape York


Death adder snakes are found in Australia and Papua New Guinea.

They are well distinguished from other Australian poisonous snakes, due to their looks.

They have a viper-like appearance, but like other Australian poisonous snakes, they belong the Elapidae family.

Their bodies are stockier than other Australian snakes', they have a more triangular head, a thin tail tip, and the habit of hiding under the leaves, with only head and tail visible.


They are mainly nocturnal, ambush predators, and quick, accurate attackers.

There are a few species of them in Australia, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia: Common, desert, Pilbara, Barkly Tableland and northern; (Australia), rough scaled (Australia, Indonesia); and smooth scaled death adder (Indonesia, Papua New Guinea).

But the only one we have on Cape York peninsula, is the northern death adder, Acanthophis praelongus.
   death adder

What Does Death Adder Look Like?

They are easy to distinguish from other Australian poisonous snakes by their triangular heads, short robust bodies, and small, worm-like tail tips.

They often have bands, but patterns and colours can vary depending on their location and exact habitat.

The colour can vary from brown, black and grey to reddish, yellowish, even greenish grey
.

common death adder

Hunting and Feeding

The group is well known for their hunting technique.

Rather than actively hunting, they quietly sit and wait for the prey to come to them (ambush).

They hide themselves under leaf litter, sand, gravel, soil or any other ground cover, only leaving their head and tail out.

The tail tip is tiny, worm-like, exactly for this purpose.

When a prey approaches, they
wiggle their tail tip, which sticks out of the leaf litter, as if it was a worm.

That lures the prey and attracts it to the striking distance, and the strike is quick and accurate!

Like most groups of snakes have their favourite prey, death adders love lizards. But they also eat birds, small mammals, frogs and other reptiles.
   death adder snake

Bite, Venom and Treatment

Their habit of hiding under the ground substance makes them difficult to see, and therefore easy to accidentally step on.

Being short snakes, their bites seldom reach higher than your ankles, so high boots, long pants and maybe even gaiters are a good protection from them on remote bushwalks.

While most other Australian poisonous snakes tend to have a mixture of
neuro-, haemo- and myotoxins, death adders only have one kind - neurotoxins.

So instead of a mixture of muscular and respiratory failure and blood clotting, death adder venom causes neuromuscular failure and attacks the respiratory system.

It acts quickly and brings symptoms like nausea, paralysis and breathing difficulties.

Before the antivenom became available, their bites had a 50% mortality rate, but today a death is rare.

That means, though, that you have to get to the hospital to get the antivenom, and it may not be easy if you are somewhere remote, so an EPIRB and a snake bite kit are good to have in your vehicle.

   northern death adder
Northern Death Adder on Badu Island

Northern Death Adder

The northern species that we have in Cape York, is about 60cm in length in average, but larger specimens can be 70cm.

It is grey to reddish bown in colour, and it is less stocky than the southern species. 

It is found in scrub and eucalypt woodland, both wet and dry.

Like the others in the group, they are ambush predators, and like the others, they are active at night.






cape york travel

Plan Your Trip... the FREE Cape York Travel Pocket Guide

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 around, where to stay (general info), what will it cost.. and a short insight to what is there to see and do in Cape York.

Plan and Bring to the Trip... the full Destination Cape York Travel Guide

visit 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 vehicle-recovery-guy partner). Not to mention locals' tips on how to spot that croc and palm cockatoo ;-)



If you liked the books or this website, let others know about it! 

Link to it from your website, your blog, your forum post... Share it on Facebook, Tweet about it...



Every link helps other travellers!

Thank you for doing the right thing and letting others know :-)






destination cape york

Latest Pages

Notice Board

Ask a Question

YOUR Adventure

YOUR Cape Memories


Keep yourself updated
on the latest -
weather, roads,
free travel tips,
and get the
FREE Cape York
Pocket Guide!


Email

Name

Then


Don't worry - your email address is totally secure.
I use it only to send you the Cape York News.

Get the FREE Pocket Guide:
cape york travel free pocket guide

Get the Big Destination Guide
destination cape york book


Available with the Big Destination Guide:
cape york dog caravan trailer
 
FEEDBACK Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
 
cape york businesses

loyalty beach