Tableland Snake Catchers

01/05/2025

There are currently road works in progress at this section of the Kennedy Highway, Mt Hypipamee. Hopefully, when it's done we can persuade The Department of Transport and Main Roads to erect some permanent Cassowary crossing signs and reduce the speed limit for this section to 60 km/hr. And hopefully a pavement sign like the ones at the Curtain fig tree.

30/04/2025

Something really exciting this morning, but also a bit stressful, we spotted a Sub adult Cassowary at the crossing point near the Mt Hypipamee access road. He crossed from the main block of forest towards Telpara hills and the creek.
I am assuming he's one of last year's chicks from the "Crater Crew". Please be extra careful when travelling on the Kennedy Highway through this section. It's a Cassowary hot spot, so if you see one of these birds please, please report it to the Department of Environment and Science on 1300 130 372. Then follow prompts. We need to build a solid data set to provide information to Transport and Main Roads to get permanent signage and reduced speed limits in this section.

18/03/2025

Yet another Tableland road with a rainforest on either side that claims more wildlife than it should. Driver behaviours, poor visibility, the speed limit and road design all contribute to these tragedies. This area is already a 60 km/ hour zone, but last year we saw just how many people actually speed in this area with the mobile speed camera detecting hundreds of motorists exceeding the limit.
Underpasses , overhead bridges, fencing, education are all worthy topics of discussion to find a workable solution.
https://www.theexpressnewspaper.com.au/tree-kangaroo-deaths-prompt-urgent-action-2025-03-14?fbclid=IwY2xjawJGtihleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHbItqvE1G9HP6IO1UyZY79X43Zba2rEMGRi00Wu02g7teCflc2qUB-zrqQ_aem_qcvdEeIB8Yc1I8s7DX9S3w

THE deaths of Lumholtz tree kangaroos on the road near the Malanda Falls have prompted Tablelands Regional Council to request an urgent review into speed limits and other factors that may reduce the number of animals hit by vehicles.

18/03/2025

A big thankyou to the ABC Far North breakfast team for allowing me some air time yesterday to talk with Charlie McKillop about the "Crater Crew" Cassowaries and to help highlight some of the threats facing the species and this little family of these very special birds. You can listen to the interview at the link below, about half way through., for about 15 minutes.
Hopefully, we can raise some community awareness and get some signage up permanently to help protect these birds. Please share the link and our posts to your friends to help raise awareness. On a positive note we have had a response form Tableland Regional Council and they will be replacing the missing signs from the access road into the Crater carpark. We are still waiting for a response form the Department Transport and Main roads.

https://abclisten.page.link/eWa9JyeHuso51xxq8

Below are the signages we are asking for, the "Wildlife" road signs are currently in place at the Curtain fig tree forest. It will take a bit longer to get these done at Mt Hypipamee. ( Unfortunately, They aren't actually up yet either)

16/03/2025

Following on from the unfortunate event with the Cassowary chick on Friday we have been given a very interesting observation. On Sunday (16th March 2025) motorists travelling the Kennedy Highway at the Mt Hypipamee observed a Adult pair of Cassowaries with THREE chicks, in approximately the same spot that the other chick was killed. Unfortunately, This is not some magical resurrection.

It raises a number of concerns and highlights the need for urgent installation of permanent Cassowary Crossing signs.

We always take Facebook reports as secondhand information , and have to treat them with a grain of salt until someone can verify the report and or get photos. One thing we have noticed over the years is some reports are spot on but other people just want to be included in the discussion, others have misunderstood what is happening/ or what has been posted and want to say they have been involved or have seen the same things, but at a different time. For example, I had someone call me today to say that they had seen the birds on Thursday and they were all ok then. I am sure that they were, but that's not Friday! And we have seen the photos of the deceased chick from Sarah Zipperer.
The broken timeline of posts on Facebook can cause some serious and frustrating issues for wildlife carers and wildlife first responders, and the audience. Precious time and effort can be wasted by poor communication and poor information. Hours can be spent searching for an animal that is not there!

At any rate in this case, If this observation proves out true then there's a few questions to ask.
Have we all failed to see a fourth chick over the last few months? I doubt this as there have been multiple sightings and photos of the same birds with just three chicks.
Is there a second pair of Cassowaries with three chicks in the exact same location? There are a huge number of questions and concerns if this is the case.
Firstly, where did the new family move in from, and why now? Why haven't we spotted them before?The next pair live closer to the Longlands Gap, and have two chicks that are much larger. There may be another pair from further around the range that we haven't seen yet?
Are the resident pair distressed at the loss of the chick, and have been calling for it and this has attracted another pair and their young? But where are the other adults if this is the case? This could cause some serious rivalry between the adults birds. Worse still, has one of the adults from the original pair been injured or worse? Cassowary females do sometimes kill chicks to " free up" the male from his parental duties.
But, it's not extra adults, it's an extra chick! Where did the "new" third chick then come from? I really doubt the resident family would have located another chick of similar age from a neighbouring pair in that short a time frame, and adopted it. I have only seen one pair, once that " adopted" a chick that was slightly larger than theirs, but it was more benign tolerance than caring for it, as it just hung around close to them. It was larger than their chicks and the adults would push it away if food was a bit limited. I am not aware of any other cases of " adoption" in Cassowaries, but sometimes lone chicks do turn up.
So lots of questions and until we can get some photos of them again it would be just guessing. Each Cassowary is unique and the Casque (helmet) can be used to individually identify each bird. What ever happens it's Interesting in any case. There aren't that many of these beautiful birds left in this area of upland rainforest, so it's really important to have factual information. I have observed this group many times over the last few years, and especially over the last few months and they definitely only had three chicks at the start of February. Hopefully we can get a good look at them soon, and someone can get some clear photos so we can shed some light on what's going on.
In the mean time it's critical to get some permanent signage in place so we don't see anymore casualties. Regards Tableland Snake Catchers

15/03/2025

At Tableland Snake Catchers, we are deeply passionate about our unique wildlife, not just snakes and reptiles but all of the species unique to North Queensland. One of the most outstanding, critical and iconic of these is the world renouned Southern Cassowary. For many years we have watched several local Cassowary families and enjoyed watching their success in rearing young. But have also been there for some when vehicle strikes have claimed a member.
Yesterday, we learnt some really devastating news. One of the three chicks from the much loved and photographed Crater Crew was hit and instantly killed by a car on the Kennedy Highway, just on the Atherton side of the Barron bridge. The vehicle responsible did not stop!
Unfortunately, for local Sarah Zipperer, she was first on the scene and removed the chick from the roadway. She contacted The Department of Environment and Science to advise them of the incident. So our thanks to Sarah Zipperer for being kind and caring enough to stop and render assistance, in what would no doubt be a quite upsetting situation.
I noticed that there were temporary Cassowary crossing signs erected on my way home yesterday at Telpara hills and thought hopefully people will slow down.
So rather than share a distressing photo of the deceased chick; we have instead, with Bob Sinclairs permission shared his photos of the family from just a few weeks ago. I would like everyone to take a moment to thank wildlife carers and volunteers for their time and effort.
Rest forever in the rainforest that is your everlasting home little one.

02/03/2025

It always saddens us to see anyone in hospital after a venomous snake bite and we hope that he has a speedy recovery. In cases where the patient suffers an envenomation there is a lot to deal with in the days, months and years after a venomous snake bite. Survival of the bite is just one small step, followed by the reaction to the antivenom and the raft of ongoing possible died effects. Every time there is a bite there are a plethora of comments on pages like this saying " there's more snake around", " they should all be killed", " I keep a shovel at the door". This shows the dull ignorance of 99 % of the population! After all the education and information on social media and through schools today it's really disheartening to see this one sided, misinformed dribble.
Forr all those people with misinformed information about snakes, here's some statistics from Queensland last year. In the 2023-2024 year child safety investigated the deaths of 70 children in Queensland. 302 people died in vehicle accidents and a whopping 3 people died from snake bite! In perspective people the dangerous species is the one with two legs.
Snakes don't hunt us, they avoid us if they can, they defend themselves (against us) when faced with what they see as a much larger predator. That is all too often trying to kill them, you can see that from the comments. Snakes can't squeal, roar or bellow; or kick, scratch or claw so they are left with puff up and look dangerous and/or bite! All snakes will retreat from people if given time and space, things go wrong when this doesn't happen, ie. stepping on one.
If there are " increasing" snake numbers in an area, ask this: What is a possible cause? It could be:
Increased land clearing or changed cropping cycles?
Reduced suitable habitat in surrounding areas causing snakes to be funneled into certain areas.
Creating attractive habitat by leaving building materials and vegetation that provide cover and food, not only for the snakes but for their prey.
Abundant prey cycles, caused again by unrestricted food supply to rodents.
They way building new houses and continued urbanisation channel the movement of snakes and other wildlife.
Building poorly constructed rock, log or brick retaining walls, that provide shelter, hunting and nesting sites.
Increased "awareness" of snakes being active through social media also increases observations.
In reality bites happen because we are too close to the snake, either accidentally or on purpose. Interactions with snakes can be minimised by; keeping the yard clean and tidy, removing rubbish, sheets of iron and other building materials that aren't needed or storing them so there is good visibility around them.
Clear vegitatuso that it is possible to see under it, this lets you see the snake and removes the cover it can attracted too.
Clean up your rubbish! Rodents are the single biggest attractive force for most largest Elapids and many pythons. So, limit their food and hiding places and it removes a huge chunk of the snakes interest.
Finally, to survive a venomous snake bite, make sure you have a pressure immobilisation bandage and you know how to apply it. Make sure that you have a couple in the house, the car and the work vehicles, boat, ATV etc. They are not expensive and will save your life!

A primary school aged boy became the third Central Queensland person bitten by a snake this weekend when he was rushed to hospital with a “life threatening” bite on Sunday morning ▶️ https://bit.ly/4i1phpg

24/02/2025

A cool south easterly and a spot of drizzle on Saturday night wasn't putting this big male Jungle Carpet Python, Morelia spilota cheynei off of hunting. He was measured at 220cm, and for most Carpet Pythons that's fairly big, but for a Jungle, it's about as big as they get. To the west and north of the Atherton Tablelands Carpet Pythons get much larger.

13/02/2025

It Turtly fantastic that the sun is out after all the rain and flooding events. Something we often see with these weather events are freshwater Turtles showing up in odd places. This one is a young male; Saw-Shelled Turtle, Myuchelys latisternum.
Some smaller turtles use the wet conditions to find a new place to call hom, and sometimes they follow storm drains looking for the headwaters and end up in bad places. This bloke was lucky, and a huge thanks to the family who were stopped to see him off the road, However, he was about a kilometre away from the nearest water way. He's a bit tired and dehydrated from a long journey, but is safely back in a quite area of the nearest creek. If you find an injured turtle, please contact Tableland Snake Catchers , on 0473169779 or 0498438912 for assistance or Tablelands Wildlife Rescue Australia on the hotline 0740917767. That way it can be cared for properly, if it's a girl, eggs can be saved and it can be given veterinary treatment by one of the awesome local vets at Tropical Vets on 0740917556 or Tableland veterinary services on 07957400(Atherton), 0740967500(Malanda).

01/02/2025

The wet weather in the tropics this week has everything looking for higher ground to avoid the rising waters. Cody spotted this beautiful Adult Common Tree Snake from the car window, well done. They blend in to the environment so well.

17/01/2025

Thanks Kelly Marie for giving us a call late yesterday. Sorry for the loss of Ben the rooster. This stunning Amethystine Python, Simalia kinghorni; helped itself to a chicken dinner. Amethystine Pythons are the largest species of snake that we see in North Queensland. Large adults are capable of taking adult chooks, flying foxes and prey upto the size of wallabies.