Legendary Indian herpetologist Rom Whitaker and his partner
Janaki Lenin provide an interesting perspective as they remember
their trip to Australia in 2016.
“I don't ever want to see another reptile again,”
Janaki muttered as her head slid across the back of
her seat and came to rest on my shoulder. At any
other time, I'd have been shattered by her words.
We’ve been on so many reptile adventures
together. But I understood what she meant. We had
just completed a gleefully exhausting 'all you can
see in two weeks' Australian reptilian extravaganza.
It all began in Melbourne when we plunged
headlong into the crazy world of private snake
collections. I'm familiar with obsessive collectors,
but this was the first time I had met snake
connoisseurs.
Nigel Souter has arguably the largest Tiger Snake
collection in the world, with a representative of
every population. I had dreamed of seeing the big
fat black tigers of Chappell and Flinders Islands
and here they were. His snake room holds 45 of
every kind of colour variation, and some are so
subtle that my colour-blind eyes couldn't spot the
difference. Brown ones, black ones, some with
markings, some without; Tiger Snakes don't come
in dramatic colour morphs like tropical pit vipers.
At the time of our visit, his collection actually grew
larger, as a Tiger Snake was giving birth to live
babies. A youngster emerged tail first, and then
the rest plopped out, wrapped in its yolk sac.
After pushing its way out of the yolk sac, the little
critter lay seemingly stunned for a few minutes.
Yawning, it took its first gulps of air before
slithering across the box to join its brothers and
sisters. What the hell is Nigel going to do with all
the babies? He doesn't sell them, but says he'll
trade them for some other cool snakes. I bet he'll
just get more tigers. I kinda sympathise with him
though; he's probably making up for his snake
impoverished childhood in New Zealand. In
Nigel's backyard, fat and happy Tiger Snakes live
in large outdoor enclosures with natural substrate
and plants, as close to the wild as they are likely
to get. One lay draped over a rock, soaking up
the evening rays.
Left: Tiger Snake at Stony Rises. Image
supplied by Adam Elliott and Adam Sapiano.
Right: Thorny Devil at Melbourne Museum.
Image by Adam Sapiano.
Down the road, Ross Howlet keeps an extensive
collection of death adders, the Australian elapids
that masquerade as vipers. I had found and
photographed some in New Guinea many years
ago, and I could appreciate the fine differences
between the beige, tan, russet and camel tones of
these beauties. The enthusiasm these men bring to
their hobbies is infectious, and none more so than
'Mantid' Maik...
After feeding giant stingrays at the Melbourne
Aquarium, we made our way over to the Melbourne
Museum, where we met Australia's largest stick
insect, thanks to Maik Fiedel. Janaki also got to hold
and admire one of Australia’s most iconic reptiles,
the delightful Thorny Devil. We had a long conver-
sation with Mantid Maik and Adam Sapiano, our
host and president of the Victorian Herpetological