Walking down to my shed last night, I found this little fella. It was a hot night for this time of year, and it was about 6.30pm. I expect to see snakes at my place, and know most of them by name [well, almost all].

I knew this guy was not one of my most common snakes, although I have seen a few like this. Now the problem is that this snake could be either... a Freshwater snake [Tropidonophis mairii] or a rough scaled snake [Tropidechis carinatus]. So what?

Well the freshwater snake [or Keelback] is non-venomous. It is one of the few Australian animals that can eat young cane toads, eggs and tadpoles, without being killed. and it is harmless. It does not have fangs, only small teeth.

Or, it could be a Rough scaled snake. This snake is quite a different story. It is an Elapaidae, or front fanged snake. In the excellent book "Wildlife of Greater Brisbane" published by the Queeensland Museum, the rough scaled snake is listed as 'dangerous'. This means that a good bite can kill you. Its venom is neurotoxic, [meaning affecting the nerves] haemotoxic, [causing damage to blood cells], cytotoxic [destroying cells]  and strongly coagulant...

Both snakes occur in our Biosphere. They both look very similar. Both like well watered areas, both wet & dry rainforests... both can come out at night, particularly after rain on warm nights.  The only way to get a positive identification is by counting the mid-body scales... [rough scale has 23, and the Freshwater has 15-17]. Rough scales have undivided subcaudels [scales below the anus], whilst in Freshwater snakes the subcaudels are divided.... but I was not going to turn it over and look at its bottom last night!

So, what do you do? LEAVE IT ALONE!!!

 Most snakes will go on their merry way if left undisturbed. Indeed most bites occur when someone tries to pick the snake up or kill it. They are part of our world too. Enjoy the experience that we have here in the Noosa Biosphere...and respect all our critters.

PS: I sent the photographs to our Local Snake expert in Pinbarren and he reckons it is a freshwater snake....[but if you are not an expert ...still leave it alone!]