Snakes around the home

This year has been a very good year for snakes - having sighted many more snakes than previous. Notably, it was a very good winter. Consistent rains, extending well into summer with mild weather and no days of sweltering heat (to date at least)............we still have green grass in the paddocks.

Once again,  a Lowland Copper Head Snake (Austrelaps superbus) has taken up residence under the deck. Just like snakes of previous years, the process is essentially the same. Up at 8am, sunning itself for around ½ an hour, before heading off to the dam to hunt.

Warming up in the sunshine

Returning from the dam around 2 hours before sundown, there's another warm up for ½ an hour, before retiring below deck. If a cool change is coming through, the snake will often be home an hour or so before the change.

The Copper Head returns to his abode.

On one occasion, a Tiger Snake (Notechis scutatus) had a look under the deck. We didn't see it leave but it hasn't been sighted for a few weeks so we assume it has gone elsewhere.

A Tiger Sanke checking out the Copper Head's abode

Just recently, we were recording a Lowland Copper Head as it attempted to shed its skin. It was searching for a suitable location where it could wedge itself between two tufts of grass and by pushing past, shed the outer layer of skin. We often find the skins laying on the ground.

We had been filming for almost 30 minutes - unfortunately, it had been unsuccessful in finding suitable vegetation in which to wedge itself. We had switched off the camera when Janet noticed a Tiger Snake making its way towards the Copper Head we had been filming.

We were unclear how each would behave - were they friends or foe, so we restarted the camera and recorded what happened.

Although both snakes are documented as dangerously venomous, we find the Lowland Copper Heads quite timid, shying away and heading off in another direction when approached.

With the broad flat head and more forward facing eyes, the Tiger Snake is certainly an intimidating sight. A Tiger Snake is more likely to stand it's ground, and on a couple of occasions, we have had them rise up in front of us before slapping their head on the ground - sorta like beating its chest. That generally sends us in the other direction!

More information can be found at :
http://australianmuseum.net.au/Tiger-Snake/
http://australianmuseum.net.au/Copperhead

Spring has Sprung............and the Reptiles have emerged

Just a quick post.

The first day of September was a warm sunny day with a top temperature around 25°C (77°F). The warmth of the day brought out a few of the reptiles.

A rather large Copper-Head - beside the dam

A fat n healthy Blue Tongue Lizard - at the front of the home

Another Copper Head near the rear deck

....and another Blue Tongue

Since last week, the Blue Tongues have been seen basking in the sun at every possible opportunity.  

The snakes on the other hand have not been out again - maybe they've had a quick feed and are having another snooze until the warm weather is a little more consistent.

Another flashback..........snakes

Over the past two (2) years, we've had Lowland Copper-Head Snakes living under our deck. Sometimes there are two (2) snakes which use the same access point.

The snakes appear to follow a strict routine each day - emerging around 8am, they sun themselves for an hour or so before heading down to the dam to hunt. At around 5 ~ 6pm, they return, sunning themselves again before retiring under the deck.

Hibernation commences in May-ish; well that's when they seem to disappear, re-emerging in September ~ October. Each year, just before they disappear, they usually "get-it-on". On one such occasion, there was a 3rd snake "waiting in the wings" and at times joined in on the fray - not sure whether the "3rd" was male or female.

The following images shows two (2) snakes "getting it on" (the two entwined), with a third (3rd) "waiting in the wings" (grass).

After the event, this one seemed to be showing it's strength / size to encourage the "3rd" snake to move on.

We don't often see them feeding, due to them hunting at the dam, however, on a couple of occasions, we've observed a snake with it's head down a hole (maybe 30cm of it's body length), with the rest of the body, writhing above the ground. Eventually, the snake will emerge with a Pobble-Bonk (Banjo) Frog.

We believe most of the  holes around the house are initially dug by Field Mice. Other critters take over the burrow, especially once a snake has been down for a feed. In some instances, the snakes take up residence in the burrow, or use the hole to access under pavers or decking..........but this behaviour is still under investigation.

A few years on................

It's been way too long since initially setting up this blog - with good intentions of regular updates..........alas. The enthusiasm has been there, and lots and lots of things have happened;  we've simply been focused on other matters.

Anyways, it's a new day, and we'll see how we go from here !?!?!

The most significant observation in the past couple of years has been the vast increase in animal activity around the home, eg. kookaburra's using the house and flagpole as a roost, blue-tongue lizards around the gardens, copper-head snakes living under the back deck, Grey-shrike thrushes debugging the eaves, blah-de-blah.

The dam has been home to various birds at different times, including Australasian Grebes (raising their young failed both years due to Swamp Harriers eating the fledglings), up to eight (8) White-faced Herons, Great Egret, Pacific Heron, Sacred and Straw necked Ibis, Latham's Snipes, Cormorants, etc.

Mammals? - Antechinus' and Ring-tail Possums using the shed as a refuge, Kangaroos a plenty, Swamp Wallabies grazing in the plantings...........all good.

We've been trialling some weed management techniques. Some worked, others didn't. This year, the hand weeding of grasses has commenced in the gully. Very significant we thinks, considering the past has focused on woody-weeds. Pasture grasses are also being reduced with our mechanical controls (read 'mowing the grasslands just before the pasture grasses set seed'). We are sure the native grasses are increasing in these areas so will continue to implement this technique and monitor.

Also purchased a KeepGuard camera and will post shots from time to time..........promise.

So here's a tempter for you - we set the camera up in the gully along one of the thoroughfares used by the animals.

Enjoy

The 1st Post

Introduction
Boonoorong, the property, is located next to the Mornington Peninsula National Park in Victoria, Australia. The property consists of 20 hectares (50 acres) and includes remnant deep wet gully (approx 4 hectares) and remnant dry sclerophyll to heathy woodland (approx 2 hectares). The rest of the land is undulating pasture that was cleared in the 1950's and used for the grazing of cattle. Soil is substantially old aeroleon dune sands over basalt – yellow podzolic soils, coffee rock and some clay have been found at varying depths on the site. Internal fencing has been removed in addition to the lower two strainers from external fences (to improve access to kangaroos and wallabies).


Scope/Objective
To return the land to the way it was before white settlement and promote habitat for local fauna. Both consider the task a “rest of life” commitment which won’t be completed within our lifetime.

Revegetation (Active),  Regeneration (Passive)
Cattle were removed in September 2000 and the land laid fallow to assess the natural regen of the site.

Wet Areas (natural springs, riparian zones to gully) -
Wet areas have shown substantial natural regen. No intention to plant in these areas – possibly conduct some companion planting in later years.

Dry Areas (within pastured paddocks) -
Drier pasture areas have not shown signs of regen although, some Acacia melanoxylon (Blackwoods) have started to progress up into the pasture from the gully. Scarification to south sides of remnant eucalypts was unsuccessful - seed stocks appear depleted.

Plantings - Revegetation
Only plants of local provenance are used, so seed is collected from ours and neighboring properties which are then propagated into tubestock. Over 4000 plants have now been introduced to 20 assigned areas - primarily to support lone remnant trees, and to provide habitat corridors. Care has been taken to ensure grassland areas remain to encourage grazing by kangaroos. With the removal of cattle, native grasses (Microleana spp., Danthonia spp., and Themeda triandra) are returning and competing with the introduced pasture grasses.

Weeding
Within the gully, the biomass of many problematic species has been sufficiently reduced to allow hand pulling or cut and paint methods,
eg.
Rubis spp. (Blackberry) – cut and paint
Myosotis spp. (Forget-me-not) – hand pull
Phytolacca octandra (Ink Weed) – 1) hand-pull, 2) use pitchfork on larger plants or use mattock to clip top of tuber
Senecio jacobaea (Ragwort) – 1) hand pull rosettes/cabbages, 2) remove seed heads and cut/paint stem of mature plants

Following previous actions with blackberry, ragwort, forget-me-not and thistles, Ink Weed is now deemed our highest priority. A reduction of the biomass is under way with follow-up hand pulling intended.

Fauna
Mobs of Eastern Grey Kangaroos roam the property, at least five Swamp Wallabies live in the gully and over 70 species of birds have been recorded. Two Copperhead Snakes reside under our decks (currently hibernating), so our home acts as a hide and allows us to monitor and observe the native fauna in its natural beauty.

An old dam located near the house has developed into a unique wetland encouraging four frog species, various waterbirds and a food source for the snakes and lizards.

Why the Blog?
Due to our unique situation, we decided to start a blog to document and record our observations.