Australia’s snakes and other reptiles

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34130, 17 April 1976, Page 10

Australia’s snakes and other reptiles

Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia. By H. G. Cogger. A. H. and A. W. Reed. 561 pp. Notes and index. N.Z price $25.50. (Reviewed by Naylor Hillary)

The commonest symptoms of snake bite are shock and fear of death. Convincing reassurance is vital for the person who has been bitten. Death from snake bite is rare. The advice comes from the introduction to Dr Cogger’s survey of Australian reptiles which must be the most comprehensive book available on the subject. Each species of snake, lizard and amphibian is included among the 800 illustrations, of which nearly 200 are in colour. Small maps of Australia showing the known distribution of each species are provided with the descriptions in the text. The sheer volume of observation involved is staggering and the result is profoundly interesting, even for those who will never, of their own free will, seek out snakes in the wild

For people who fancy snakes or lizards as pets, Dr Cogger has helpful advice on collecting equipment and techniques, and on the problems of housing and feeding. “Keeping venemous snakes should not be undertaken lightly.” he writes. They should be "kept away from children”. And because most snakes feed on live prey, only those should be kept which will eat mice or frogs which can be easily obtained.

In ail, Australia has about 300 known kinds of lizard and 140 species of snake. The lizards range from the giant goanna of the interior to the quaint little Moloch or thorny devil. Among the snakes Queensland’s amethystine python has been recorded up to 8.5 metres (about 27ft); most of the better known venomous snakes seldom exceed a metre in length. Although advice for those bitten by a snake includes the exhortation “kill the snake and keep it for identification”, the emphasis in Dr Cogger’s book is on conservation. Scientists are by no means sure that all species of snakes and other reptiles

in Australia have been recorded accurately and an amateur naturalist with an iron nerve can still sometimes make a genuine discovery.

Even so, after the feast of illustration in this book, the reader is likely to be left with an overwhelming impression of snakes as utterly alien creatures. No communication of the kind possible between men and most mammals seems likely to work with snakes. The feeling is enhanced by Dr Cogger’s remark that snake venoms are complex mixtures of proteins. Their actions are not always fully understood, anti-venom is not always reliable, even when it is available, and doctors are not always in agreement about the best treatment. In all, snakes can be enjoyed best

from the comfort of a country which is free of them and Dr Cogger has provided a first class guidebook. One criticism. Captions to the illustrations give only scientific names. To track down common names, or to find illustrations of species generally known by common names, takes a little time. Dr Cogger justifies his system by noticing that common names are imprecise and vary between localities. Scientific names do not. But it is still frustrating to the ordinary reader to have to pursue Notechis scutatus or Notechis ater when seeking a Tiger snake. These two — N. ater from South Australia (above) and N. scutatus from Sydney — are shown in the illustrations reproduced here.