Mainland Island Snake

• GeneralOne of the most dangerous snakes in Australia; it flattens its neck when threatened.
• On Chappell Island, off Tasmania, the tiger snakes depend on the chicks of a single shearwater species, available only a few weeks a year: they have evolved disproportionately large heads in order to swallow them and spend the rest of the year practically fasting.
• It is viviparous and a female can give birth to more than thirty young at once, an extraordinary litter size for a venomous snake.
• Its colour varies enormously between populations, from almost black to banded yellow: the island and mainland forms were once described as separate species.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (reptile)

Habitat and environment

Wetlands, riverbanks, damp grassland and coastal islands of southern Australia

Size at birth

About 20-25 cm at birth; it is viviparous

Sexual maturity

9.5 months

Gestation / incubation

3 months of gestation

Litter / clutch size

30 live young

Sources consulted: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_snake

Best time: From September to April in southern Australia and Tasmania, by day, in marshes and along stream margins; at the height of summer it also hunts at dusk.

The pins mark the parks where its presence is documented.