Australian Bockadam

“A Cerebus australis (Australian Bockadam) lives across northern Australia, from the Kimberley region in Western Australia to the tip of Cape York in Queensland and some small islands in the Torres Strait. It inhabits estuaries and coastal mangrove flats, where it feeds on crabs and small fish. A muscular snake built for swimming, it is rear-fanged and mildly venomous. This individual was encountered at night around Darwin, Northern Territory.

In the right spots, these snakes can be found in high-numbered populations, usually easier to spot when tidal waters are receding. They share the mangroves with other mangrove snakes and Saltwater Crocodiles.

It had long been a dream of mine to find this species in the wild, as I have been utterly fascinated with our aquatic snake species. Interestingly enough, I spent quite a few years as a kid living in Darwin, always on the lookout for reptiles, as that’s where my passion lay. Yet it wasn’t until I returned as an adult on a holiday that I had the chance to see one in the wild.

We scouted the area during the day, where we encountered quite a few decent-sized Crocodylus porosus (Australian Saltwater Crocodiles). This meant we would have to keep our wits about us whilst searching. Constantly on the lookout for the eye shine of crocs, we waded shin-deep in water, crouching beneath the mangroves in an endless weaving maze and racing against time as the water receded from the mangrove flats.

We found a few on this particular night, but this beautiful individual was definitely the calmest. This photo depicts the habitat in which these snakes live.” – Tom Frisby

This month’s photo comes to us from Tom Frisby, a wildlife enthusiast and photographer based in Australia.  Thank you for sharing with us!  Connect with Tom and see more of his work on Instagram and on Flickr.