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Transcript
00:00G'day I'm Clive and welcome back at the Armidale Reptile Centre and we're back with Lucy.
00:27So today we're going to be talking about the Dugite, the biggest one first.
00:34We are, we're going to start with the most common, probably the most common people come
00:37across.
00:38Yep.
00:39Yes.
00:40So the Dugite then, let's say with the size, how big would they get up to?
00:44So on average 1.5 metres is a pretty good size.
00:49They can get to 2 metres, 2 metres and above is rare, I think I've seen one individual
00:54that's been over 2 metres, but generally, just like everything else, the bigger it is,
01:00the more mature it is.
01:02So a lot of people probably don't come across the much bigger individuals because they've
01:05been in this world a long time, they know where's safe, where's not safe, but 1.5 is
01:10a very average, average size.
01:13So the actual video of the Dugite we got today, he's about 2 metres or just over 2 metres
01:19he looked.
01:20He's a Brutus and he's one of our biggest individuals and it's very rare to see one
01:25his size.
01:26So roughly how old is Brutus?
01:28He is a rescue, so I don't know for a fact how old he is, but we know he's fully mature,
01:34so we would place him probably about 10 years older.
01:39That's a pretty good age for him.
01:40So is that the average age or?
01:43No, no, they can get quite a bit older.
01:46They can live for almost up to 20 years.
01:49In captivity they'll naturally live a lot longer than in the wild, but you'll find that
01:54heavy predation happens for young individuals and then once they get to a good decent size,
01:59so probably over about a metre, the number of predators that can get to them are reduced
02:04quite a lot.
02:05But to make it to a good sized adult is an incredible achievement nowadays.
02:12So coming from these small babies.
02:15Yes.
02:16Are they eggs or are they born live?
02:20So they are eggs.
02:22So they do lay a clutch of eggs and the mother will incubate and protect the eggs.
02:28Once the eggs hatch, however, that's the end of her commitment.
02:32She doesn't really care about them after that.
02:35She'll go one way, they'll go and scatter the other way.
02:38So there is a bit of a misconception that mothers will hang around and protect their
02:42young.
02:45Mother does not care.
02:47She's done her bit.
02:48She's done her nine yards and she's out of there, ready to move on and do it again somewhere
02:52else.
02:53How large is the clutch of eggs?
02:56Well it does vary a great deal.
02:58So they can only have a few or they can have up to about 15 eggs and then it is highly
03:04variable on how many of them are even viable eggs as well.
03:09So it's potential for a few of them to become what's known as slugs.
03:12So it's eggs that just haven't gotten to the end of their lifespan.
03:16Whether they were ever fertilized at the beginning or not is debatable.
03:20And then so you may have say she's laid 15 eggs but only six individuals actually emerge
03:27and survive to move on.
03:29So it's a life history that they have where they have many, many young because predation
03:37on their young is very high.
03:38So having lots of babies mean that some babies will survive and they don't have any parental
03:44care.
03:45So the babies just have to fully develop when they're born and fend for themselves entirely
03:50on their own.
03:51So the babies, I think we mentioned in one of the other videos, but about how venomous
03:56these babies are because there's a misconception at times isn't there?
04:00There is that babies are more venomous than adults and it's just a sheer fact on biological
04:08size.
04:09A baby typically can be born at about 30 centimeters and that's very, very small as opposed to
04:15a 1.5 meter adult.
04:18They are fully developed, but the size of their fangs, the size of their venom sacs
04:23are very, very, very small.
04:26Not to say they can't cause damage or injury to people, but the chances of it are significantly
04:32lower.
04:33And as you can imagine, an animal that's only 30 centimeters long has so, so many more
04:39predators than an animal that's 1.5 to 2 meters long.
04:43So they are a lot more scared, but like all animals, they don't want to fight.
04:50They want to fly.
04:51They want to hide.
04:52They want to get away from everything.
04:53So they will, if you give them the chance, get away from it all.
04:58The adults as well, they prefer not to fight, but rather than back off, give you a warning
05:05and try and get out there?
05:08Sometimes they won't even give you a warning.
05:09They'll just look at you and be like, you're getting a little bit too close.
05:12You keep advancing towards them and then yeah, they might do the traditional kind of bend
05:16back and the S that people are very familiar with.
05:21And then you'd have to push it even further.
05:23And then that's when they'd probably try and bite.
05:26Typically that's a closed mouth bite.
05:28So they're not actually got their mouth open.
05:30It's just a kind of like a smack against you.
05:33And then push it even further.
05:35And then, well, now you're getting into the dangerous territory.
05:40But for them, if they bite a predator to them and envenomate it, they now have to go through
05:47a process of remaking all that venom within their body before they can eat again.
05:53So they're unable to eat for a period of time if they bite a predator.
05:57So they don't want to do it.
05:59It just makes their life harder.
06:01So they'll give every warning in the book before they give the final warning.
06:06So if you do approach one and you find one there and they're local to you, what is the
06:10best thing for a person to do?
06:12So typically it's said that a snake can strike to half of its body length.
06:19So you got a two metre Jew guy, he'll probably be able to strike within one metre.
06:24So the recommended advice is if you are beyond that strike zone, you are pretty safe to slowly
06:32move and walk away from it.
06:35If you're within that strike zone, it's recommended that, I know it goes against every instinct,
06:39but you just remain still.
06:42If you remain still, you look like a tree.
06:44A tree is not dangerous, a tree is not going to harm them.
06:48And they just go, okay, well, this is boring, I'm just going to move over here now.
06:52So that's the recommended advice.
06:54So that would be slowly and gently?
06:59Very slowly and gently, yeah.
07:00Yeah, because some people move slowly and go, they'll last minutes.
07:05No, they do react quite heavily to movement.
07:09So if you think about it, when they're going around looking for something to eat, it's
07:13those quick, sharp, darting movements that makes them aware that there's prey around.
07:17So naturally, they're inclined to investigate or look at quick, sharp movements.
07:23So if you're walking along and you start waving your arms or jumping up and down at him, he's
07:28going to get intimidated by it.
07:30And then suddenly, you might find that he's a bit angry with you, and you can't just walk
07:36away from him.
07:37So it's always best to keep it nice and calm, nice and slow, nice and chilled out.
07:41If you're chilled out, he's chilled out.
07:44So where's the most likely spots you'd have a female lay her eggs?
07:50Anywhere where it's...
07:51So they need two things are the best places for them.
07:55They need somewhere where there's going to be food for when they're young, are born,
07:58and then for the mother as well, because once she has laid her eggs, and she's incubated
08:04them, she's going to want to feed.
08:05That's the first thing that she's going to want to do.
08:07So she's going to try and pick a spot where food is relatively abundant.
08:11But then also they want somewhere where it is sheltered, where they aren't going to get
08:16disturbed, they aren't going to get dug up, they aren't going to get moved or anything
08:21like that.
08:22So places like, you might find them in your horse stables, you might find them in your
08:27chook pens, you might find them near bird aviaries.
08:30But by far the biggest thing is refuse and litter around people's properties.
08:36So building materials are probably one of the most common things that you find them
08:39under, particularly like tin sheets and things like that, because they warm up, so they stay
08:45nice and warm, nice and dark, and they can hide under there.
08:49They generally don't move for months at a time when people have these in their gardens.
08:54But even things like under houses, if you've got houses on stilts, or you've got gaps under
09:01your house, you might find them under there, in and around sheds, places like that.
09:08So anywhere that is going to be a dark, warm, probably with lots of food around place.
09:14So in other words, you've got lots of mice around, there's a high chance they're going
09:20to be in there.
09:21Yeah, yeah.
09:22Even things like tree stumps and trees that have fallen over and things like that.
09:28So it needs to be relatively sheltered.
09:30Under some of the concrete slabs where, the backyard, you're getting a wash.
09:36Yeah.
09:37Honestly, they could be anywhere.
09:39And not just the mothers and eggs, but even just adults chilling out for the day on their
09:44way to find a different meal or anything like that.
09:47So you can find them all over the joint.
09:49And they do, like, it's the most commonly removed snake?
09:54In the Perth Metro area, yes, definitely.
09:58Because of urbanization, they've been one of the few animals that have probably benefited
10:04from it.
10:05Because coming with us comes all the rodents, the rats, the mice, the shelter, all those
10:11sorts of things.
10:12So they have been able to adopt into our lifestyle very easily.
10:19And they've probably benefited from it.
10:21So that's why you will find them more commonly around here.
10:25So it's common to see them around the sand dunes and beaches?
10:29Yeah, yeah, you do have them along the beaches.
10:32They're very, very, very widespread.
10:35They have a very good ability to go into multiple different sort of, particularly like ground
10:42types.
10:43So sand, clay, even to a small degree, they might go into swampy areas or marshy areas,
10:51forested areas.
10:52So they're very adaptive to those sorts of things.
10:55But they are restricted to the south, the southwest.
10:58So they do need that more of a cooler climate than some of the other alapid species we have.
11:02So hence, if you're walking the Bimbalung Track, like I did, I saw my first snake, actually
11:07on the Bimbalung Track, just outside of Donnelly River, was a dewgite.
11:13So keep your eyes open.
11:14And it's normally on the sunny parts of the track where they're warming themselves back
11:19up again.
11:20That's right.
11:21Yep.
11:22And did you just walk on straight past him or did he move on himself?
11:25I tapped my walking poles and he looked at me, turned around and went off.
11:29And straight off.
11:30Yep.
11:31That's it.
11:32That's all you need to do.
11:33Don't panic.
11:34Just give your poles a tap and wait.
11:36And they will move.
11:37Yep.
11:38They definitely will.
11:40So they're basically down in the southwest, but what's the rough area people may get to
11:46see them?
11:47Well, you'd have to go out of the city into a bit more of the rural-y sort of areas.
11:55As far as I understand, I've never known anyone to catch any above sort of the Chittering-Chitlow
12:00area.
12:01I've never known them to be north of there, but they will go all the way down to the south
12:08coast.
12:09Around the Esperance area?
12:10Yeah.
12:11And they'll, yeah, go over a little bit towards the east.
12:13And I think towards the border is basically about it with South Australia.
12:17I don't believe they go anywhere into South Australia, but yeah, you will have to go further
12:23out to see proper wild ones and not ones that have just gotten very used to being around
12:29people.
12:30And I think, I can't remember which one I was reading, but can a dugite actually be
12:35found on places like Rottnest?
12:37They can be, yeah.
12:38As far as I understand, I only am aware of one subspecies that's an island subspecies.
12:45Tiger snakes is another one that have a few island variants, but it's very possible that
12:50they are on the islands.
12:52And there's a couple of islands off the Esperance area that are found out there?
12:58Yeah.
12:59Yeah.
13:00And they would probably be quite different to our mainland ones in various ways.
13:05So sizing, they'd likely be smaller, they'd likely be different colouring, like the average
13:12colouring would likely be very different depending on the climate they're in and then the diet
13:17that they have.
13:19So that can have a great deal of impact on how they look.
13:22I was just about to ask about the diet, because mainly we've mentioned mice, we've got frogs
13:27as well, we've got other lizards.
13:30They're predominantly mammal marsupial eaters.
13:35So they are fully terrestrial animals, so they are on the ground entirely their life.
13:41And mammals marsupials are the main diet, but they have been known to go for other reptiles.
13:50Bobtails is a big one that people have captured them having a snack on quite a lot, kingskinks
13:56as well, particularly when you get to the duney areas.
14:00But mammals marsupials are the top, but they are a bit of garbage, I'd say.
14:07And it's coming back to the misconception when people say, if you see a bobtail, there'll
14:11be no snakes.
14:12Oh, yes.
14:13A lot of people think that's because snakes are afraid of the bobtail, but it's the opposite.
14:18Yes.
14:19It's the actual bobtails in an area that they feel safe that there's no snakes.
14:23More than likely, yes.
14:24So don't take that interpretation if it's a bobtail, there's no snakes, because there
14:29possibly is, but just not in that direct vicinity, but maybe 10, 15, 20 metres away there can
14:36be.
14:37Yes.
14:38Very true.
14:39Anything else you think people need to know that's important?
14:43Well, dewgites are a difficult one to ID for a lot of people.
14:49Their colour morphs are incredibly varied.
14:53It is probably the most varied animal that we have over here.
14:58They can range from very pale colouring to very, very dark colouring and every type of
15:05shade of browns and whites and creams and yellows in between.
15:10They can have olive colouring to them.
15:13They can not have olive colouring.
15:16And then on top of that, they could have spotting.
15:19So a lot of them will have black spotting along their body, whether that's quite a bit
15:25or not a lot.
15:26They could be quite striped with their spotting.
15:29They could be quite zigzaggy with their spotting.
15:32The variation is so extreme that identification can be difficult for people.
15:42The main way we can identify a dewgite, if we're not 100% certain that the colour variation
15:47is very extreme, is location.
15:50It's very unlikely that there's any other sort of a leopard in an area that a dewgite
15:54is in, other than the tiger snake.
16:00But typically the main colouring type you'll have is this olivey grey sort of colouring.
16:06And they do have these black speckly, spotty to them.
16:13And that could be a few, typically more up towards the top of the body, but it could
16:16extend all the way down.
16:18They could have zigzags as well.
16:21On top of the head, they've got just a slightly larger black area, instead of just spots.
16:27They can do.
16:28Yeah, they can do.
16:30But at the end of the day, there's no rule as to how to identify a dewgite on its colour
16:37morph alone.
16:39And there should never be a rule, because you'll make so many mistakes otherwise.
16:44And then that's led to a bit of a sad situation.
16:49Because of their high variety and the ability to misidentify them very easily, there's lots
16:55and lots of very small snake species that get incorrectly ID'd as dewgites.
17:04And then unfortunately are dispatched because of that fear of the dewgite.
17:10And so it has led to a bit of issue in that way.
17:13So it's very important that we learn to identify what is dangerous and what isn't.
17:18But then also on top of that, even more importantly, we identify how to deal with it without disturbing
17:25it.
17:26It's also an incredibly important process.
17:29That was a lot of information.
17:34Thank you for that.
17:35You're very welcome.
17:36We'll be back with another video with Lucy.
17:41There were quite a few actually that lined up, so keep an eye out for them.
17:47And I hope you've enjoyed the video.
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