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.
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.
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 wiggletheir 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.
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 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.
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This site uses British
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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.