Inconclusive sighting

Highlands Copperhead at Bimberi, NSW

Austrelaps ramsayi at Bimberi, NSW - 13 Mar 2022

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Identification history

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	31 Mar 2022	WillO
	Austrelaps ramsayi	31 Mar 2022	WillO

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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

WillO wrote:

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

wombey wrote:

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.

Tapirlord wrote:

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.

wombey wrote:

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.

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