Yellow-faced Whip Snake

Significance to Humans:

Potentially Dangerous
Potentially Dangerous. especially if children involved. Bite may cause localised pain & severe symptoms. Apply correct first aid and seek medical attention.

General description:

Very slender snake with long, thin whip-like tail. Large prominent eyes. Colour generally pale olive or bluish-grey, often with rusty flush or longitudinal stripes along front-third of body. Belly grayish-green, often yellowish under tail. Distinctive face markings. Obvious pale cream or yellow rim around eye, with dark comma-shaped marking curving back below eye. Dark bar or line with pale edges runs across front of snout from nostril-to-nostril. Scales smooth. Midbody scales at 15 rows.

Average Length:

65-70cm, but specimens up to 80cm have been recorded locally.

Habitat in SE Qld:

Dry open areas including open forests, woodlands and grasslands. A frequent species around homes.

General habits:

Swift-moving, alert, diurnal snake. Good vision, active hunter.

Diet:

Swift, fast-moving lizards such as skinks.

Local distribution:

Found within most Gold Coast suburbs with the exception of Coastal areas and Southport.

Around the home:

Frequently seen and commonly enters homes during active foraging efforts. Apparently common due to the high densities of favored skink prey. Will utilise a range of ground localities for refugia including constructed rock and sleeper retaining walls, under rocks, sheets of iron, timber piles and other discarded human litter. Nine individuals were captured under one piece of plastic in a Goodna backyard along side an Eastern Brown Snake. Frequent victim of roaming suburban cats.

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