In Print.
Reptile-related news items.
Invasion of the Corn Snakes?
Although the early settlers deliberately introduced many
species which were to quickly become pests, in Australia
our unique endemic fauna and flora is protected from the
further colonisation of exotic organisms by geographic
isolation and stringent legislation. We all know that occa-
sionally some individual is prosecuted for breaking these
laws, but seriously, does anyone really think that there
are enough Corn Snakes illegally held in Australia to
establish a naturalised population?
A forthcoming article in Australian Zoology turns this on
its head. No less than 79 free-ranging Corn Snakes were
captured by wildlife authorities in the greater Sydney
area between 2002 and 2014. Furthermore, the frequency
of captures increased over this period. Although the pat-
tern of encounters indicates that a viable wild population
may not yet have become established, this data does
suggest that the number of Corn Snakes held in captivity
is growing. The climate in eastern Australia is certainly
similar enough to that of the south-eastern United States
to be conducive to future colonisation, and the authors of
this article believe that continued illegal trade may make
this a real possibility.
Below: adult Corn Snake. Photo by Glenn Bartolotti.
Source: Creative Commons.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
Right: Corn Snakes hatching; they can lay up to 24 eggs.
Photo by L. Dawson. Source: Creative Commons.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/deed.en
Reference (abstract):
Michael S. McFadden, Philip Topham, and Peter S.
Harlow (2017) A Ticking Time Bomb: Is the illegal pet
trade a pathway for the establishment of Corn Snake
(Elaphe guttata) populations in Australia? Australian
Zoologist In-Press.
https://doi.org/10.7882/AZ.2017.006