Wild Western - Flinders Ranges, SA

[Mark p]

Hi guys,

I was up in the Flinders Ranges back in August last year and came across this old battle axe female western under a piece of rusty corrugated iron, amongst the ruins of an old piggery. She was a bit beat up, but it's not too often you get photos of wild westerns, as they are so secretive, so I thought I'd post a couple on here for those who appreciate it.

By the way I'm assuming female because of the extensive scarring on the upper flanks, typical of the persistent scale damage caused by male mating grasps on this fragile scaled species.

Found her just outside Winninowie CP, on the coastal plains just north of Port Germein, on the western side of the Southern Flinders Ranges

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Sorry about the poor photos, was a very gloomy overcast day, and very cold. she wasn't very happy about it.

[Dood]

WOW she is gorgeous !!

Thanks for posting ! I never get tired of looking at reptiles and I'll never get to see a Western in the flesh

Any idea on her length or weight? She looks massive and REALLY ticked off

[NickBrahz]

She does not look like a happy camper to be there.

[Mark p]

Nah sorry, I didn't have a tape on me (or a set of scales for that matter lol), but she was actually on the smaller side, for a western. yea wasn't happy at all about being disturbed from her winter slumber.

[splashy07]

Oh I am so jealous of anyone who lives in a place where you can see something like this in the wild!!!
I'm lucky to spot a garter snake on the bike trails...
Thanks for sharing!

[spandangle]

What a nice find! The colour seems to be darker than the normal SA variant.

[SeanUK]

Great pics can't get enough of seeing westerns in the wild

[Richard.C]

Nice looking specimen mark

Spandangle some sa westerns are very very dark,almost appearing melanistic but just very dark and drab

[Scotts1au]

I caught one just like that on a school trip to the Finders Ranges many years ago, but my teacher made me let it go. haha. Yep, looks pretty wild. :-)

[Mark p]

Spandangle - as Richard said, the distribution range in SA is enormous, so just like shinglebacks they vary hugely in colour and pattern from place to place, even sometimes in the same population there will be vast differences, often it seems to be age related with some older specimens fading to a uniform dusky olive or brown colour. I've seen a large adult male from near Langhorne Creek which was so dusky and uniform deep olive brown, that you couldn't even make out any bands on it at all (wish i'd got a photo) the only way you could tell it was a western was from the head scales and the creamy white belly.

Scott - If only I'd had someone to stop me when I was 8 years old, I wouldn't have had a fauna permit unit officer knocking on my door looking for a couple of sleepies i'd taken home with me from the flinders a few months earlier. luckily, being 8, they spared me the hefty 20,000 fine or any jail time lol.

[spandangle]

Spandangle - as Richard said, the distribution range in SA is enormous, so just like shinglebacks they vary hugely in colour and pattern from place to place, even sometimes in the same population there will be vast differences, often it seems to be age related with some older specimens fading to a uniform dusky olive or brown colour. I've seen a large adult male from near Langhorne Creek which was so dusky and uniform deep olive brown, that you couldn't even make out any bands on it at all (wish i'd got a photo) the only way you could tell it was a western was from the head scales and the creamy white belly.

Thanks for that. I was aware of the massive variation, I just I hadn't seen one as dark as the one pictured. Ever since I saw a central Australian western (from Curtin Springs station, 100km east of Yulara NT) just after it had shed, I have been in complete awe with westerns ever since. The variations on them are beautiful. Ignoring mutations, only the shinglebacks or the northerns would be in par with westerns for their colour variation. The western NSW and SA colours on the westerns are very different to the colour pattern that we get in WA, so much so that you could almost think they are entirely different tiliqua sp if you ignored their physique. As you maybe aware, the Westerns over here, particularly to the north, are much more vivid black and whites.