yellow-faced whipsnake (demansia psammophis)
Other common names: Whipsnake
Toxicity: Mildly venomous. Bites result in local pain and swelling. See a doctor if bitten by a large individual.
Description: Slender body with indistinct head, very similar in body shape to a Green Tree Snake or a small Eastern Brown Snake. The eye is large and has a very distinctive dark teardrop pattern or comma below and behind the eye. Colouring is usually olive to brown, often with a section of the top of the body a coppery brown. Pale underside. Can grow to 1 metre in length, but generally around 75cm.
The Yellow-faced Whipsnake is a member of the front fanged venomous Elapid family.
General habits: The Yellow-faced Whipsnake is distributed widely throughout eastern QLD and NSW. It is active during the day and very fast moving, catching it’s prey on the run. Can be observed moving with a raised head surveying around.
They are a communal snake, often found sharing a habitat with others. I have observed more than five individuals at one time darting in and out of a retaining wall.
Diet: Lizards, frogs, lizard eggs.
Locally: Found in all locations in the Tweed, adapting well to urban gardens. Most people will have seen one disappearing at speed into a rockery. Occasionally seen inside a house – generally due to an open door or caught by the cat and brought inside. Quick to flee.
Reproduction: Yellow-faced Whipsnakes lay up to 10 eggs.
Close up of the head showing the large eye with distinctive black marking in the shape of a comma.
A long thin body with copper colouring on top, especially in the front third of the body. This one has just shed, resulting in vibrant colours.