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The Occurrence of the Carpet Snake Morelia Spilota Variegata in Northwestern New South Wales

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The Occurrence of the Carpet Snake Morelia Spilota Variegata in Northwestern New South Wales The occurrence of the Carpet Snake Morelia spilota variegata in northwestern New South Wales p. Morris NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 18, Bourke 2840 Morelia spilota is the largest snake occurring The Carpet Snake is the cause a large pro- in New South Wales. The Diamond Python, portion of the calls from within the town of Morelia spilota spilota, lives in the denser forests Bourke regarding snakes around houses, and of the east of the state where its spectacular at the time of writing (October 1993) was black and yellow pattern is excellent camou- responsible for a call out to the bridge across Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/rrimo/book/chapter-pdf/2644344/rzsnsw_1993_011.pdf by guest on 26 September 2021 flage in the dappled light. The Carpet Snake, the Darling River where one was causing Morelia spilota variegata, as the name suggests, concerns for the bridge repair crew. An has a blotched pattern in rich browns and accidentally killed juvenile from "Trafalgar" fawns remininsent of old carpets. This colour- station, 25 km south of Bourke was sent to the ing helps to hide the animal in its woodland Australian Museum to provide a permanent habitat of northern and inland New South record of the species in the area (Fig. 1). Wales. In November 1986, at King Charlie Information about M. spilota was patchy Waterhole in Nocoleche Nature Reserve, I when the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 captured a two metre long Carpet Snake after was amended in Decmber 1991 by the it swam across the waterhole in the Paroo Endangered Fauna (Interim Protection) Act. River. The close examination in the hand When the revised schedule (Schedule 12) of allowed a positive identification, and the endangered fauna was promulgated in animal was released. Early in 1987, another February 1992 M. spilota was included. As Senior Ranger Jo Smith found a Carpet Snake further information came to hand, this species about 3 km further south along the Paroo was removed from the schedule in the sub- River, 200 m west of the river in the floodplain sequent revision published in Decmeber 1992. woodland (Fig. 1). In an effort to fully review the status of the The Carpet Snake is an infrequently encoun- species in New South Wales, Prof. Richard Shine tered element of the fauna of the Darling was engaged by the Service to prepare a plan of management for the species. This has high- lighted the lack of records for M. spilota in the north west of New South Wales. Swan (1990) provides the most comprehensive collation of records for this species (Fig. 1) yet shows no records for the Darling River or further west. The generalized map in Cogger (1993) and the expectations of Shine (in draft) put the Carpet Snake as reaching the Darling River. As a National Parks and Wildlife Service ranger stationed at Menindee and subsequendy Bourke, I have had the opportunity to confirm the existence of Carpet Snakes on the Darling River and beyond. During the early 1980s I encountered this species at three points along the Darling River in Kinchega National Park (Fig. 1). A small snake was seen near the Menindee regulator managed by the Depart- Fig. 1. The distribution of the Carpet Snake M. spilota in ment of Water Resources, another small western New South Wales. Dots represent the individual was killed by a tourist at Weir 32, extreme western records from Swan (1990), the and a two metre long snake was seen on the triangle represents the Kinchega records, the square represents Bourke records and the star represents the fire trail adjacent to the Darling River at the records from Nocoleche Nature Reserve. southern end of the park. Herpetology in Australia 67 River, the Bourke area and the Paroo River semi-arid areas of the State will require further Basin. All previous records place it no further assessment to determine if it is endangered west than the Darling River, and the current there. records restrict it to locations adjacent to rivers REFERENCES in the north west of the State. The lack of COGGER, H., 1993. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia. 5th detailed record keeping has meant that it has Ed. Reed: Sydney. been overlooked as part of the fauna of that SWAN, G., \990. A Field Guide to the Snakes and Lizards of New part of the State until now. Its status in the South Wales. Three Sisters Publications: Winmalee. The Australian Society of Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/rrimo/book/chapter-pdf/2644344/rzsnsw_1993_011.pdf by guest on 26 September 2021 Herpetologists Incorporated The Australian Society of Herpetologists Incorporated is a society for professional herpetologists and publishing amateurs. Currently the Society has a membership of over 200, representing all Australian States and Territories and several overseas countries. The objects of the Society are: • to promote the scientific study of amphibians and reptiles. • to provide opportunities for discussion and dissemination of information among its members by appropriate means, including meetings and publications, and • to take an active interest in the conservation of amphibians and reptiles. The Society was formed in April 1964 and had its first Annual General Meeting in August 1965. Since that time the Society has met regularly every 12 to 18 months, usually at different and remote locations; these AGMs take the form of sessions of scientific papers and a business meeting, interspersed with many extra-curricular activities and are much talked about in scientific circles. A must for members, old and new alike. The Society became incorporated in the Australian Capital Territory in 1983 and is administered under a Constitution by a Council of seven members. Newsletters are produced periodically and distributed to all members. Membership is by nomination by two financial members of the Society who will vouch for the acceptability of the prospective member. Subscriptions are currently A$ 15.00 per annum (A$ 10.00 for full-time students) for members in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. Differing rates apply for overseas members. All enquiries and nomination forms for membership should be sent to the Secretary/Treasurer, Mr John Wombey, CSIRO, Division of Wildlife and Ecology, P.O. Box 84, Lyneham, ACT 2602. Richard Longmore Public Officer 68 Herpetology in Australia .
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