Book review: A Gift From the Snake That Bit Him

A Gift From the Snake That Bit Him: Adventures of an Australian Reptile Man by Neville Burns

Review by Mike Williams

Neville Burns, of www.nevilleburns.net, is one of Australia's most famous herpetologists.

After years of being prodded by his friends, Neville has finally released his much anticipated memoir detailing his life-long interest in, and the early days of, reptile collecting in Australia.

Combine the weird sense of Australian humour, a complete disregard for his own safety and a genuine love and passion for reptiles, and you end up with this great book.

His early travels up and down the coast of Australia are fascinating as well as his encounters with all sorts of 'crazy' characters, the kinds of people you could only meet in the Antipodes.

One of the genuine good guys in this field who holds no airs or graces, Neville has always been the first to give fellow enthusiasts his sought-after advice and time.

Even if you don't know the difference between a Death Adder and a Taipan, you will still find the book an enjoyable collection of stories about these fascinating animals.

And you might actual learn a thing or two, especially why you should never 'borrow' a young crocodile when owed money!

Of course you have to buy the book to find out what happened next.

The book is available through www.nevilleburns.net.

CFZ Australia's Mike Williams caught up with Neville this week to talk all things herpetological.

Australian-led team discover reasons behind snakes' 'shrinking heads'

A small-headed sea snake foraging in waters off the
Ryuku Islands. Photo by Yoshitaka Tahara.

An international team of scientists led by Dr Kate Sanders from the University of Adelaide, and including Dr Mike Lee from the South Australian Museum, has uncovered how some sea snakes have developed 'shrunken heads' - or smaller physical features than their related species.

Their research is published today in the journal Molecular Ecology.

A large head - "all the better to eat you with" - would seem to be indispensable to sea snakes, which typically have to swallow large spiny fish. However, there are some circumstances where it wouldn't be very useful: sea snakes that feed by probing their front ends into narrow, sand eel burrows have evolved comically small heads.

The team has shown normal-shaped sea snakes can evolve such "shrunken heads" very rapidly. This process can lead to speciation (one species splitting into two).

The small-headed populations are also much smaller in absolute size than their ancestors, and these shape and size differences mean they tend to avoid interbreeding with their large-headed ancestors.

Dr Lee says, "A team led by my colleague Dr Kate Sanders (University of Adelaide) has been investigating genetic differences across all sea snakes, and we noticed that the blue-banded sea snake (Hydrophis cyanocinctus) and the slender-necked sea snake (Hydrophis melanocephalus) were almost indistinguishable genetically, despite being drastically different in size and shape.

"The slender-necked sea snake is half the size, and has a much smaller head, than the blue-banded sea snake.

"This suggested they separated very recently from a common ancestral species and had rapidly evolved their different appearances.

"One way this could have happened is if the ancestral species was large-headed, and a population rapidly evolved small heads to probe eel burrows - and subsequently stopped interbreeding with the large-headed forms."

Dr Sanders says the research could have wider implications in other scientific studies: "Our results highlight the viviparous sea snakes as a promising system for studies of speciation and adaptive radiation in marine environments."

Oooohhhh Betty! Super snake has keepers quaking

Atomic Betty, as she's known, is a 14-year-old, 6.5m articulated python - the only snake in the world considered a true "man eater''.

The powerful python was due for her annual weigh-in this week at the Australian Reptile Park, the Daily Telegraph reported.

It took six keepers to catch and bag the enormous snake - considered the most dangerous animal at the park, more so than the resident 5m crocodiles - inside its enclosure before it was weighed, tipping the scales at a whopping 139kg.

Native to South-east Asia, reticulated pythons are the world's largest snake and can grow to 8m with a life expectancy of about 30 years.

Atomic Betty is believed to be the largest snake in Australia having grown to 6.5m after being imported from the US in 2001.

Her diet consists of three to four 25kg goats a year.

Great snakes! Watch where you sit...

Funny how the job advertisements at these mines in Outback Australia always skim over the 'small' things, like having to live with hundreds of other sweaty, dirty men, paying a fortune to live in a caravan and...having to fish deadly snakes out of toilets!

This sequence of photos is doing the rounds in Australia, and supposedly harks from an unnamed workplace in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

This fierce creature was found tucked up under the toilet, hovering just above the S-bend - thankfully before the photographer settled down on the seat.

Perhaps a redback spider would have been preferable after all!

And for the snake-phobic, there is really only one way to deal with such an inconvenience...but wouldn't have been easier going behind a bush?

No word on the snake's fate.

HELP - Animals struggle in Queensland floods

Australia's animals are among the hardest hit by severe flooding in Queensland, northern NSW and Victoria. Please think about donating funds to help out wildlife and domestic pet rescue and care.

Overseas and Australian readers can donate to the following charities focused on rescuing native and domestic animals: Steve Irwin's Wildlife Warriors fund and the Queensland RSPCA (which has lost many of its offices to the floodwaters, but is coordinating a state-wide fostering and rescue network).

One lucky macropod was saved from the floodwaters by a canny group who fashioned a rescue harness out of a pool scooper and some plastic ties and rope, while another was saved by a brave man who swam out to save it. You can watch the video of the first rescue below, and see photos of how some other species are coping with the raging waters.

 

 

 

From the archives: The Case of the Euroa Bunyip (1890)

A NEW BUNYIP?

The Euroa correspondent of the Melbourne Argus writes:-

  Considerable excitement has been caused in Euroa by reports as to an extra- ordinary animal having been seen in a swamp at Wylonemby, about fourteen miles distant. The swamp is about 150 yards across, and a creek flows through it. 



For six years or more the swamp is reputed to have been the haunt of something abnormal, tales being told of dogs flying out of the place, and never again being induced to enter. Last week a couple of young men went into the swamp for the purpose of cutting reeds, which are 6ft. high and very thick, when they were alarmed by a sudden splashing and snorting near at hand, and the rushes waved as if allowing passage to some large animal.

They quickly retired, but next day one ventured back to carry out the reeds be had cut, when he was again alarmed by strange sounds, he leaped upon a log, and at some thirty paces away saw a large head upreared, which he likens to that of a bulldog. It kept this position for about ten minutes, when it disappeared, the motion of the rushes giving the idea of an animal some 30ft. long.

The young man was greatly scared. On a report of the occurrence appearing in the local journal a party of Euroa sportsmen went out to the swamp, where they were joined by local residents on horseback. 

After beating about for more than an hour they were about to give up the quest, when a sudden rustling was heard, and two of the party saw an enormous tail as thick as a man's thigh disappearing into the large trunk of a fallen tree. 



A shot was fired at the animal, but, its effect is a matter of conjecture. Attempts were made to dislodge the bunyip, but without avail, the only result being a small black snake, which was quickly despatched. Night coming on the party retired, but will again visit the scene on Saturday.



Those who saw the animal describe it as being of a yellow colour underneath and a dark brown above, "as thick as Mr. Barr's bell-topper." It is supposed to be an immense serpent, such as is found in Queensland.