King brown snake
The Mulga snake (Pseudechis australis) is a highly venomous snake native to Australia. First described by English zoologist John Edward Gray in 1842, it is variable in appearance. The venom of this snake can cause severe effects if delivered in large enough quantities.
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NocturnalNocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal",...
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DiurnalDiurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
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CrepuscularCrepuscular animals are those that are active primarily during twilight (that is, the periods of dawn and dusk). This is distinguished from diurnal...
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CarnivoreA carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of a...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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PrecocialPrecocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. Precocial species are normall...
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OviparousOviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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PredatorPredators are animals that kill and eat other organisms, their prey. Predators may actively search for or pursue prey or wait for it, often conceal...
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Highly venomousHighly venomous animals are able to produce the most toxic venom which is considered to be one of the most debilitating and potentially deadly.
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withThis is a robust snake, with a head slightly wider than the body, prominent cheeks and small eyes with red-brown irises, and a dark tongue. Scales on the upper parts, flanks, and tail are two toned-pale or greenish-yellow at the base and various shades of tan or copper, or all shades of brown from pale to blackish towards the rear. This gives the snake a reticulated pattern. The tail is often darker, while the crown is the same color as the body. The belly is cream, white, or salmon and can have orange marks. The colors of the snakes' upper parts and sides differ from area to area within their range; those from northern Australia are tan, those from deserts in Central Australia have prominent white marks on each scale, giving a patterned appearance, and those from southern parts of its range are even blackish. In Western Australia, Mulga snakes are significantly darker in color.
Mulga snakes are found in northern, western, and Central Australia. They occur in all states of Australia except for Victoria and Tasmania. The eastern limit of their range runs from Gladstone in central Queensland, and south through Gayndah, Dalby, the Warrumbungles, southwest to Condobolin and the vicinity of Balranald, and then across to Port Pirie in South Australia. The southwestern limit of their range runs from Ceduna in South Australia, west through the northern Nullarbor Plain to Kalgoorlie, Narrogin, and on coastal plains north of Perth. Mulga snakes live in rainforests, woodlands, hummock grasslands, chenopod scrublands, and gibber or sandy deserts nearly devoid of vegetation. Within the arid to semi-arid parts of their range, however, they prefer areas of greater moisture such as watercourses. They are often observed in modified habitats such as wheat fields, rubbish piles, and vacated buildings.
Mulga snakes lead a solitary life. They are mostly crepuscular-active at dusk, and are less active during the middle of the day and between midnight and dawn, retiring to crevices in the soil, old animal burrows, or under rocks or logs. During warmer months their activity shifts to later after dusk and into the evening. In cooler climates of their range, they are more active during the day and in hotter climates at night.
The Mulga snake accounted for 4% of identified snakebite attacks in Australia between 2005 and 2015, with no deaths recorded. The last recorded death occurred in 1969. Venomous snakes normally only bite humans when disturbed. Mulga snakes have been noted, however, to bite people who were asleep at the time. Furthermore, a significant number of victims have been snake handlers. This snake is classified as a snake of medical importance by the World Health Organization. The Mulga snake can bite repeatedly and chew to envenomate a victim. Considerable pain, swelling, and tissue damage often occur at the site of a king brown snake bite. Local necrosis has been recorded. A large Mulga snake delivers on average 180 mg of venom in one bite. Nonspecific symptoms of poisoning are common and include nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, generalized sweating (diaphoresis), and headache. Impaired clotting (coagulopathy) is common, and can be diagnosed with an elevated activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT). Symptoms of myotoxicity (muscle damage) include muscle pain and weakness in the presence of an elevated creatine kinase (CK).
Mulga snakes are carnivorous reptiles. They feed on lizards including small monitors, skinks, geckos, and agamids, other snakes including whip snakes, brown snakes, the brown tree snake, southern shovel-nosed snake, Gould's hooded snake, and crowned snake, birds such as thornbills, small mammals such as rodents and dasyurids, and frogs. They may eat roadkill and are known to exhibit cannibalism.
The mating season for Mulga snakes begins in the early Southern Hemisphere spring in southwest Western Australia, mid-spring in the Eyre Peninsula, and with the Wet Season in the north of the country. Males engage in wrestling combat, each attempting to push the other over for the right to mate with a female. Females produce a clutch of 4 to 19 eggs, generally 39-45 days after the mating. Eggs are incubated for about 70 to 100 days. Baby snakes are 22.6 cm (9 in) in length and weigh 9.4 g (0.33 oz) on hatching.
There are no major threats facing Mulga snakes at present. However, populations of this species in some areas of their range may have declined with the spread of the Cane toad. Mulga snakes are sensitive to Cane toad toxins and die after eating them.
The IUCN Red List and other sources don’t provide the number of the Mulga snake total population size. Currently, this species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List but its numbers today are decreasing.
