The crowned snakes are some of our most beautiful reptiles.
The three named species, the Golden Crowned snake Cacophis
squamulosus, the White Crowned snake C. harriettae and the
Dwarf Crowned snake C. kreffti all occur on the east coast
of Australia. All are found in our region although the White
Crowned [pictured] is at the very southern limit of its
distribution in far northeast NSW and is listed as a Threatened
species in NSW.
The three species can be distinguished by their size and
the shape and colour of the “crown” marking
around the head. They range in size from around 20 cm [total
length] for the Dwarf Crowned, to around 50cm [total length]
for the Golden Crowned.
While all three are venomous even the larger Golden Crowned
is not considered dangerous. When threatened all three put
on a spectacular show of bluff, with the head held high
and pointed toward the ground they will strike repeatedly
in an attempt to ward off potential predators. However the
two smaller species are reluctant to bite at all and rarely
open the mouth in defence.
Crowned snakes are nocturnal and prefer moist habitat with
plenty of ground cover vegetation and leaf litter. They
will eat lizards and frogs as well as other prey, which
suits their size. They are all very secretive snakes and
given the right conditions the two smaller species are able
to survive in built up areas. Both turn up occasionally
in backyards in parts of Southport where the house blocks
are the older ½ to 1 acre size.
