Nocturnally foraging elapid snakes

A beautiful Red-bellied black snake nocturnally foraging, 12th February 2017   

With all of the unusually warm conditions we are experiencing in the Hunter Valley at the moment, many humans are restricting their movements during the daytime to avoid the heat.  It was quite strange on the roads this weekend; there were so few cars around.  As the mercury climbed to the mid 40 degree range, most sensible people stayed directly in front of their air conditioner.   

After a sweltering Saturday, my wife and I decided to take advantage of the situation, and grabbed our cameras and went bush to see what animals were active.  We were not disappointed.  

It was almost 22:00 hrs when we visited one of my favourite firedams.  It was a bit strange because the dam was silent, which was most definitely NOT normal. The moon was full, which often dampens frog activity, I presume because they are much more visible to predators.  Still, it wasn't normal.  There should have been frogs calling, perhaps a bit more subdued than normal, despite the relatively bright conditions.  

I had a feeling what the reason was, and I slowly panned my head torch around the small firedam.  Sure enough, there was a small (~4.5 - 5 ft) adult Red-bellied black snake methodically foraging amongst the leaf litter and vegetation in the dam.  As I continued to pan slowly around, I could see an adult Eastern water skink, which will also gleefully eat small frogs, and is a very suitable meal for a Red-bellied black snake.  There was also the usual eye shine from ten or so adult Striped-marsh frogs, a very common species at this location.  

So just like people, many animals will also switch their activity patterns during periods of extreme weather.  Large, venomous snakes such as Red-bellied black snakes and Eastern brown snakes are extremely like to become nocturnal during these times too.