Inconclusive sighting
Highlands Copperhead at Bimberi, NSW
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Comments from moderator
Moderators have agreed that identification features required to separate the snake in this photo from other species that are sometimes dark in colour are not clear enough for us to accept the id given. Thank you for submitting the photo Tapirlord.| Insufficient or inconclusive evidence | WillO | 31 Mar 2022 | |
| Austrelaps ramsayi | WillO | 31 Mar 2022 |
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User's notes
Not fabulous photo, but I’m confident that it was a copperhead. Black ontop with a creamy white underbelly. Almost stood on it, so didn’t feel like getting to much closer once I have retreated.
4 comments
29 Mar 2022
Hi Tapirlord, thanks for the record. We need to be careful in accepting identifications like this one (i.e. as you note "not a fabulous photo"). There are black and dark grey un-banded tiger snakes in the subalpine zone. They are quite rare. However, this record is almost certainly as you claim - a Highlands Copperhead. I have in fact seen two HC's within a few hundred metres of this site (about 30 years ago!) so there is nothing wrong with the locality. I will wait to hear comment from John Wombey before accepting your observation. Thanks
29 Mar 2022
While I agree with Will it is probably a Copperhead we certainly don't have much to go on here. I have recorded a Red-bellied Black-snake on two sticks road which is not that far away and this image could be a Black-snake albeit a bit dull and more like a Copperhead. I can see nothing that would point me with certainty to any of the three options.
29 Mar 2022
Hmmmm, I'm confident this was not a red-bellied black, this snake was jet-black on top and creamy white underneath. As a moderator, I understand that not all observations can be verified, particularly if the observer is only an amateur in the field (me in this case!), so absolutely no worries if this needs to be put in the inconclusive bucket. However, I doubt this is a red-bellied black snake, though can't comment on the possibility of a tiger snake. I saw at least 8 snakes at Murray's gap and the slope of mt Murray and saw similar numbers last time I visited this area, so I wonder if this is a colony of sorts. A friend of mine (also an avid hiker) once told me that red-bellied black snakes breed at Murray's gap, but all of the snakes I have seen were jet-black with creamy white underbellies (copperheads I'm pretty sure) so part of me wonders if this is a case of misidentification and the area, is really a copperhead hotspot.
1 Apr 2022
While I would be happy to go with Copperhead, I should point out that the colour of the belly is less important than the presence or absence of white on the lips, not clear here which is the only reason I wondered about Black-snake. I still can't rule out Tiger Snake, the image is just a tad too far away to be sure of anything, sorry.
Location information
Sighting information
- 1 Abundance
- 13 Mar 2022 11:12 AM Recorded on
- Tapirlord Recorded by
- Alive / healthy Animal health
Collections
Species information
- Austrelaps ramsayi Scientific name
- Highlands Copperhead Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 1759.9m Recorded at altitude
Record quality
Quality score
5 / 7
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Verified by an expert moderator
- Description
- Additional attributes
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location