Watch for the Water Pythons

Explanation: Watch the roads carefully, especially after dusk when the warmth of the asphalt entices these large serpents to linger.

This is a water python, a species found only in north tropical Australia.

Notice the iridescence on top of head. With the olive-gray
body, this is a most attractive snake ... if you can get over
your serpentaphobia.

True to its name, water pythons are found around freshwater swamps, marshes, lakes, and reservoirs -- "billabongs" in Australian slang. We discovered this beauty during a night drive around Fogg Dam near the Northern Territory city of Darwin. For some reason, water pythons seem to occur in huge numbers at this location.

Water pythons feed on small mammals (mostly water rats), waterbirds, bird eggs, and reptiles.

Apparently, newly hatched water pythons feed exclusively on newborn water rats, so a bad year for water rats spells low survival for that year's python cohort.

Like boas, anacondas, and other related species, pythons kill their prey with constriction. They grow some 5-7 feet (1.5-2.1 m) long.

Despite their limited range and specialized habitat, water pythons are not at all endangered.

Notice two adaptations here to a semi-aquatic lifestyle.
The thermal sensory pit above the nostril is much reduced in
size, as it plays less of a role in water, as compared to
other terrestrial snake species that hunt using infrared.
Also, the eye is place higher on the side of the head than
in other python species, to aid vision while swimming.

So watch where you drive at night near water bodies!
That stick in the road just might be trying to escape.

EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week