Austin: “It’s a snake.”
My name is Austin Stevens.
It can take a lot to get the perfect photograph of a wild animal.
But I don’t let anything get in my way.
I’m heading for a hidden Australian valley where deadly reptiles are in for the fight
of their lives.
Austin: “Sometimes you just gotta take a chance
and make your way.”
This is the Australian wilderness.
My home away from home, because it possesses some of the deadliest creatures on the planet.
Austin: “I’ve got him.
There we go.
I’m trying to get him to settle down a little.
Oh, trying to strike there.
These guys can move very fast and strike out quite quickly.
Look at that.
This is a Western brown.
This is a highly, highly venomous snake.
One of Australia’s most dangerous snakes.
One of these guys, he’d only scratch you – you might not even feel it – and it’d
be enough venom to actually be dangerous to you.
Oh, fast bite.
Fast bite!
There.
Ah!
Going for my foot there.
There’s about more than a hundred species of snakes in Australia.
If you collectively take all the brown snakes together, they cause more bites than any other,
any other of the Australian snakes.
It’s had enough of me right now.
I think I’ll just release him and he can be on his way.
There we go.
You’re such a good boy, are you?
You can get your freedom again.
Off you go.
Wait ‘til he gets home to his wife tonight and says, ‘Do you know what happened to
me today?’”
Austin: ““I’m traveling through the northern
regions of Australia and I’m heading west.
This area is vast and it’s mostly unpopulated, but it’s well known for its many species
of highly venomous snake, as well as other reptiles.
And I’m hoping that, on this journey, I’m gonna get the chance to photograph some of
these animals.”
My assignment is to document these animals in their natural habitat, before everything
changes.
Because Australia’s native reptiles are under attack from a powerful invader – the
Cane Toad.
The toads present three deadly threats.
They devour anything that moves, they eat so much that they disrupt the entire food
chain and they can poison anything that tries to stop them.
Already they’ve taken over huge expanses of the country.
From Darwin, I’m driving through miles of Cane Toad country.
I’m heading for the Kimberley, one of the few remaining pockets of northern Australia
untouched by the toad invasion.
My aim is to try and photograph the reptiles there before the toads take over, once and
for all.
Radio announcer: “And over there in the northern territory, up in Darwin, afternoon
or evening storm with a top of thirty-one.
In Katherine, an afternoon shower and a top of thirty-three.
Uh, relative humidity, ninety-one per cent.
Still no wind; it must be pretty still out there.
In fact, it feels like…”
It’s only 9 A.M. and the heat and humidity are already intense.
But nothing seems to stop the advancing amphibian army.
Austin: “I’ve been driving for miles now in this
particular area and seen lots of toads crossing the road.
Now it’s gotta be Cane Toads because they’re big like this; they’re the real thing.
And there’s more.
I’m seeing groups of them.
There’s like four or five at a time crossing the road.
Woah.
I wanna just pull over and see what’s going on over here.”
Austin: “Holy mackerel.
Just look at all these toads.
Toads everywhere.
I’ve never seen so many toads in my life.
Just look at the size of them.
Some of them are really big as well.
Look at this guy over here.
Wow, there’s another one there.
Look at the size of these guys; they’re enormous.
Enormous.
Look at that.
Off you go, boy.
That’s the biggest Cane Toad I’ve ever seen in my life.
Just look at it.
It’s fantastic.
The Cane Toad is the biggest toad in the world.
And they get even a lot bigger than this one.
The other thing that’s very obvious on this toad is the bulging poison glands, which you
can see there, on each side.
And if you actually squeeze that, massage it, you might actually force some of that
poison to come out.
See that, it actually squirts out, there.
The poison is that powerful, it can kill an animal.
It might even kill a crocodile.
It might even kill a human.
If you had this in your mouth and it absorbed through the tissue in the mouth, it could
even kill an adult human being.
So it’s a very powerful poison and that makes this, in some ways, a very dangerous
toad.”
Austin: “These toads were introduced into the country
decades ago, around about 1935.
The hope was that they would feed on the cane beetles, which were causing havoc in the sugar
cane fields.
Unfortunately, the experiment went wrong and these toads did not wipe out the cane beetles
at all.
What actually happened was these toads began to breed and, and a female like this, she
can lay about thirty-thousand eggs at a time.
And she can sometimes do that twice in one year.
It seems that these toads are still spreading at an alarming rate.
And right now, they’re moving westward.
Well I think I can let you go now, go back to your buddies.
I’ve gotta get on the road and I’ve gotta try and get ahead of you guys.
I’ve got some snakes to catch and photograph.
Off you go.
Toads everywhere.”
Beyond Australia’s parched centre, few places are safe from these toxic invaders.
My assignment is to find an area of outback as yet unaffected, and document the reptiles
that live there, before the toads arrive.
What I need is untouched wilderness.
It’s rare to find reptiles anywhere else these days.
But there are some survivors, if you know where to look for them.
Austin: “What’s this coming up ahead here?
I can’t believe this.
Suddenly come out of the bushes, there’s trucks everywhere.
Trucks and cars.
Stuff everywhere.
Look, they’ve been dumped here.
It’s been dumped; it’s been left here.
This would be a fantastic place for snakes.
I mean, snakes could hide in all of these compartments and under these trucks.
This is fantastic.
I’ve gotta look around here.”
I’ve no idea why all of these cars are here.
It’s a scrap yard in the middle of nowhere.
Austin: “Nothing in there.”
I could have sworn there’d be reptiles here.
Austin: “Nothing.
When it’s really hot like this, snakes are looking for any shelter they can get.
What’s better than a shady car like this, turned all upside down?
Let’s have a look.
Aaah!
Nah, nothing.”
If there are snakes here, there’s only one other place they could be hiding.
Austin: “Water looks pretty grubby, doesn’t it?
probably full of all kinds of elements dissolved from these cars all over the years.
But, at the same time, this is a great place for reptiles; any kind of reptiles could be
hiding in there.
I must have a look.”
I know what you’re thinking.
But if you’re looking for reptiles, you’ve got to do it properly.
And this time, it pays off.
Austin: “I see something going inside there!
That’s a monitor lizard.
It’s trying to get out.
It’s right on the far side of the car.
Come on.
I can’t reach him.
He’s just in there.
If I could get this open.
It’s a snake!
It’s a snake!
It’s not a monitor; it’s an olive python.
The python must have been hunting and we chased him and he took refuge inside the car.
I’ve got him.
You can see, uh-oh, see what he looks, see like that.
He’s gonna strike.
Ah, got him.
Look at that.
You can actually see the sheen on his body when you put him in the sun like that.
All the reflections off the droplets.
It’s fantastic.
It’s like an iridescent colour, almost like oil on water.”
Austin: “And if you look at the jaw over here, these
snakes have got heat receptors, which you see running along the base there.
And he can pick up minute changes in heat and helps him to find his prey, especially
at night.
Sometimes they’ll actually go underwater and they’ll grab their prey from below,
like a duck or something like that.
He’ll actually come up from the bottom, grab and pull it down.
They constrict their prey, grab onto it with their teeth, pull the animal into their coils,
roll up and put on the pressure.
So they slowly suffocate the animal.
And a guy this size would certainly eat monitor lizards and even rats, quite big rats at that.
And he’d slowly progress and start eating wallabies.
That’s what’s always interesting about pythons; their jaws are able to open largely.
They can split down the centre and the bottom jaw; it can open sideways.
The ligaments on the top and bottom jaw are connected so that it stretches.
And it takes in an animal much larger than its head size.
And muscle reaction, muscle action actually forces it down into the stomach.
And if it’s something quite big, it may take a couple of weeks to actually digest
that.”
Austin: ”Look at that, he’s stretching his body
out.
Powerful body.
See all the muscles working over here?
He keeps himself erect.
And he’s gloriously coloured.
Look at the sheen on his body now that the sun is reflecting off him.
Gorgeous.
I mean look at that.
It’s like a butter yellow tinge with light green.
It’s phenomenal.
Scales perfectly formed all the way down.
What a beautiful snake.
Now watch him as he hits the water.
He gets excited straight away and he just wants to take off.
Look at him go.
He disappears under the water.
I gotta keep an eye on him.
There’s the head but, Then he goes down.
Lose him very easily like that.
He swims beautifully.
Like magic in the water, I mean, they just float along.
And they can go underwater and they can stay at least a half an hour under water without
taking a breath.
Really good.
Off you go boy.
Into the water.
Swim away.
You’ve done your thing.”
An Olive python usually wouldn’t try to eat a Cane Toad, but monitor lizards would.
And they’d die in the process, leaving the Olive pythons with very little to eat.
Before long, the whole food chain is in disarray.
Since just one hundred and one Cane Toads were released in 1935, they’ve spread over
a million square kilometers.
Within just twenty years, they’re predicted to cover twice that area.
By that time, their numbers will be in the millions.
As I approach the western Australian border, the gateway to the Kimberley, things suddenly
get busy.
Austin: “Look at all the people here.
All with torches, cars.
I’m just going to pull over here, see what’s going on.
Pull off on the left.
Somebody there.
Man (in reflective vest): “Hey.”
Austin: “Hey there, what’s going on?”
Man: “We’re just out, uh, doing a bit of toad busting.”
Austin: “Toad busting?
What’s that?”
Man: “Do you want to come and have a look?”
Austin: “Yeah, I wanna have a look.
You bet your life.”
Austin: “You’ve got a bag full of toads?”
Man: “Yeah, Cane Toads, caught in the last half an hour or so.”
Austin: “There must be millions of these guys.
And you’re walking up and down the roads and collecting them just like this?”
Man: “Yeah, that’s right.
You know, each night we’re coming out, getting a couple hundred.
We’re definitely slowing them up.
If people don’t do anything, then they’re just gonna take over.
But if there’s people actually getting out there, trying to catch ‘em and doing something,
then we might be able to slow ‘em down.
Like, these toads are the front line here, this is like the front line of the, the toad
advancement.”
Austin: “Yeah, you’re right there.
Well I think you’re doing a fantastic job, against all odds, I suspect.
It’s great to meet you.
Thank you very much for that.
Thanks, mate.”
The toad situation is far worse than I could have ever imagined.
My journey through Cane Toad country has given me food for thought.
Despite their best intentions, I can’t imagine a few volunteers can stem the tide for long.
Austin: “I’ve been thinking about those guys I
met last night, the Toad Busters.
A lot of interesting information they gave me.
I didn’t realize that the toads had reached this far and that they were still spreading
even further.
If I’m gonna get the kind of animals I want to photograph, I might have to get ahead of
those toads.”
The front line is advancing at fifty kilometres, each and every year.
Experts predict they’ll breach the Kimberleys within twelve months.
One of Australia’s last great wildernesses and all its reptiles faces a grim future.
It’s very different to the Australia I first visited.
Then, it was easy to find wild places full of animals.
Austin: “The first time I ever came to Australia
was just over ten years ago.
And I bought a van and I traveled for nearly a year.
Travel the roads, stay away from the cities.
Just see all the wilderness and wildlife stuff.
Never know what you’re going to see next.
It was fantastic.
I always said I’d come back.”
But I didn’t expect to find the country under threat.
Every year, this normally arid desert endures a monsoon season.
Massive storms last for hours.
Ninety per cent of the year’s rain falls in just a few months.
Flash floods rip away at the road, making progress slow.
Luckily, these tropical storms are over just as quickly as they begin.
Because to get into the wild, I need to get off the beaten track.
And something tells me now’s as good a time as any.
(((tractor-trailer horn)))
I’m heading off the map, but at least I won’t get run off the road.
Because this is a track that very few other vehicles will be taking.
Austin: “That might be a problem.
I think I’ll give it a go anyway.
We’ll give it a go.”
Rain may make traveling tricky, but it’s good news for snake hunting.
Austin: “After the recent downpours we’ve been
having, it’s amazing to see such a clear day again.
It’s fantastic and it’s gonna be really hot.
But there’s lots of water being left behind, lots of pools of water.
And that’s not a bad thing at all because that attracts reptiles, especially reptiles
that like to be close to water or that feed around water.
You might get monitors, you might get pythons, various things.
There’s pools and billabongs everywhere after those downpours.”
I’ve reached the Kimberley, the pristine wilderness I’ve been heading for.
Few people live here – just thirty-eight thousand – in a land the size of California.
Conditions are simply too harsh.
As I head deeper into the outback, the road disintegrates into nothing.
Austin: “Just look at this.
The track’s completely covered.
I mean I try and keep going westward, but you just don’t know.
You get so lost.
And most of the time, I’m lost.
I’m lost right now.
This is coming to an end.
The grass is virtually coming right over the bonnet.
What was a track here once, possibly, is certainly not a track anymore.
Wow, sometimes you’ve just gotta take a chance and make your way.
You’d never catch something in this grass.
I need a more open flat area, more rocks.
More packed rocks, packed on top of each other where the snakes can hide under.
That would be ideal.
So I’m gonna go circle around these rocks over here and see what I come, come up with
on the other side.
If I could just find my way through this grass.
Wow, it’s a fantastic area.
Incredible.
I’m totally surrounded by this red sandstone.
It’s gorgeous.
Well, you know, I’ve been riding so much, I’ve been driving a lot.
I’m gonna get out and take a chance.
There’s a lot of rocks here, lot of rock edges over here, a lot of fallen rocks.
I’m gonna take a look around.
I might just find something.”
Austin: “This is serious grass.
Always dangerous and nerve-racking walking through grass like this because we know there’s
snakes everywhere.
And you just don’t know when you might step on one.
Just look at all these formations.
You gotta be careful, though; wherever you touch, everything breaks.
This is all sandstone, it’s very soft, it gives way.
You’ve gotta be very careful how you step and even where you grab.
It’s really humid.
It’s really, really humid.
But just look at this valley.
Look at the surrounding.
It’s totally incredible.
Millions of years ago, this was just sand dunes, giant red sand dunes.
And it’s just a fabulous valley.
It’s got rocks everywhere.
Rocks on top of rocks, and it’s got trees.
I mean, there must be snakes here.
I might find arboreal snakes here.
Snakes can be under any of these rocks, lizards.
There’s lots of geckos I’ve been seeing.
It’s a great place to go looking for stuff.
I have to get some photos as well.
Okay, see what I can find.”
With not a toad in sight, it’s time to find the native reptiles I need to photograph.
But conditions are far from ideal.
The Kimberley is the hottest place in all Australia, and this breathless sandstone bowl
is like death valley.
It’s well over forty degrees down here.
And it’s so humid, my sweat isn’t evaporating.
So it can’t cool me down.
Reptiles rely on heat to power their bodies.
But at this temperature, even they seek out the shade.
Austin: “Nothing.”
Austin: “Oh, watch him go.
There he goes.
He’s right under here.
Oh, ‘ve got him.
Wow, now to the untrained eye, you think I’ve just caught a snake.
You notice he’s not trying to bite me, ‘cause in actual fact, he’s not a snake.
Okay this is a legless lizard.
A fantastic animal, unbelievable animal.
Look at that long slender head going into the neck, all in one part.
Long slender body, going all the way through.
The difference is over here that if a snake grabbed onto this guy right here at the edge
of the tail, he can drop his tail, just like any lizard can.
This is a lizard.
I suspect that this guy’s lost part of his tail at one time because you can always see
the difference.
The regeneration is from there.
If you see that, the colouration.
See how the stripes go along there, and the dotted line goes up to there?
It doesn’t go any further.
So I’m imagining that, at one time, he probably got grabbed by some predator and he released
that piece of his tail.
That’s the fantastic thing about lizards; they can regrow their tails.
Snakes can’t do that.
If a snake’s tail is chopped off, it’s gone forever.
These are opposite to other animals.
Some animals have generated limbs while these animals have given up their limbs.
You can see it quite clearly over there like that.
There, see that?
That’s where the legs were.
Tiny little legs which are now so greatly reduced, if you x-rayed the back over here,
would you see the little pelvis that still remains there, which is basically steadily
moving away, disintegrating, disappearing, evolving to nothing.”
Austin: “Look at the face there.
Isn’t it gorgeous?
I mean, look at the pointy little nose.
This is probably really good for going through underbrush and even through sand.
And the nostrils, tiny little nostrils right up top, and further back here are the eyes.
I’m gonna put him down, take a couple of really great photographs of this guy.
He’s so friendly.
Well I’m so surprised.
He’s just settled down to such a perfect pose over here.
I didn’t think I’d get a chance, but I’m gonna run back and get my camera where I dropped
it up top there.
And if he just keeps this pose, this will make the most perfect photograph of this guy.
Just stay right there boy.
Don’t move.
Don’t move.
Okay.
That’s fantastic.
Wow.
He’s beautiful; he’s stunning.
Okay, set him up here.
You’re so beautiful, aren’t you?
Yeah.
I’m just trying to set him up for one or two more shots, right on the rock here.
Seeing as he’s turned out to be such a friendly guy.
Just get another shot or two there.
Wow, fantastic shot.
Excellent.”
Austin: “One good thing, this guy doesn’t eat
frogs under any condition.
So he’s not in any danger of being poisoned by a Cane Toad.
However, Cane Toads get pretty big and a fairly large Cane Toad might grab this guy and just
eat him down.
So that’s a possibility he’s gotta watch out for.
One more shot then I’m gonna put him back under his rock, out of the heat, and then
go.
What a great little animal.
Look at him posing for me.
Eh?
You’re just a lovely little thing, aren’t you gorgeous?
You’re so beautiful.
Stunning, eh?
Where in the world can you just pick up a wild animal like that and it settles down
in your hand like that, quite happy to be with you?
That’s a fabulous animal.
I love this little creature.
I’m gonna put him back under here, see if he’ll just settle down; keep him cool over
here.
You wanna be under there, or you want to be out?
Oh, he’s taking off.
Off he goes.
He says, ‘I wanna go.’
Alright, if he’s happy to go and find his own spot, I’ll just let him go.
Off you go then.
Oh, I got some great shots.
I’m really pleased about that.
I wonder where’s my tongs?”
My first reptile from the Kimberley.
It’s a good start, but now I want a proper snake.
If anything, it’s getting even hotter.
And to make matters worse, the animals I’m looking for are almost impossible to spot.
Austin: “Aw, just look at that.”
A Death Adder – one of the deadliest snakes in the world.
Austin: “Isn’t that just perfect camouflage?
Can you believe that?
I’m gonna get a picture of this guy.
Look at that.
See that, you can barely see him, eh?
It’s perfect, perfect camouflage.
That’s fantastic.
Look here, he’s given himself away with the tail.
See the tail sticking out there?
Oops.
See that?
Instant reaction.
He’s got the head there and look at the body.
It’s tight S. It’s typical of a viper type of pose.
Tight S is over there, and look at him flattening himself out as I touch him.
See the banded body, so well camouflaged in these leaves.
There’s the head now.
Quite clearly, he’s getting agitated and he’s defending himself.
Look at that.”
Austin: “Come on, I want to try and get him out
a little bit.
There.
You’ve gotta be very, very careful with these guys ‘cause they’re lightning-fast
strikers and they’re short and stubby.
So you can’ t just pick him up with your hand; you’ve got to keep him at bay.
I’m just trying to hold him back.
I want him to settle down a bit.
He’s really keen.
You’ll see how fast he strikes.
You’ll see he acts just like a true viper.
Curls his body up, poses in forward and will strike instantly.
Instantly and a very fast striker.
And he wants to just get out of here.
He says, ‘I wanna get away from this guy.’
See the tongue.
Watch the tongue flickering.
He’s, he’s marking exactly where I am.
See the bend in the neck there?
Exactly from that position he can lunge forward and they can lunge forward the full length
of their body.
See that?
He’s just threatening.
Half threatening; not doing a full strike.
One little drop of venom from those fangs and you’ve got it.
Deadly stuff, highly powerful, very powerful neurotoxic venom.
But watch how he curls up again, curls into a striking position, he keeps coming forward,
he keeps coming forward.
He wants to get to me, he just wants to get over here.
Let me put him down.
Woah, look at that strike.
Is that incredible?
I’ve just gotta get him to settle a little bit.
But I’m not, he thinks I’m trying to harm him.
Of course I’m not.
Isn’t that fantastic?
I can actually pick him up like that.
Isn’t he gorgeous?”
Austin: “Of course these guys will eat local frogs,
okay?
Local, some of the local frogs are poisonous.
But that poison is not going to affect this snake at all and he will swallow them down.
But the Cane Toad is something different.
The poison in the Cane Toad is extremely toxic and it’s a foreign poison.
So if this guy tried to grab a Cane Toad and swallowed one of them down, he’s definitely
gonna die from that effect.
Gently put him down, trying to get him into a good pose.
Look at that, he settled so nice, I must get another… don’t move, don’t move.
Thing is with snakes, you’ve gotta move really slowly, really slowly.
Get that shot.
That’s fantastic.
Woah, stop.
Wait, wait, wait, wait.
Don’t go now.
Settle down.
Woah.
Close to me.
Too close to me.
Okay.
That’s all he wants, his little dark place to hide away again.
Off he goes, back into there.
Okay, so it’s time to move on.
It’s gonna be a really, really hot day.”
Death adders are particularly susceptible to Cane Toads, so that’s exactly the sort
of shot I’m after – a picture that records the animals here before the Cane Toads come
in and change everything.
But if I’m to find more reptiles, I need to move on.
The Kimberley is a patchwork of different habitats.
Each home to different reptiles.
All have something new to discover.
I’ve spotted a natural spring on the map in a valley just along the escarpment.
Even though this is rainy season, any permanent water is still likely to be a good place to
find wildlife.
But getting there could be easier said than done.
Austin: “It’s heavy stuff.
Solid stuff.
Looks like somebody got stuck here and abandoned their vehicle.
Let’s hope we can get through.
Tough going, I’ll tell you.
Everywhere’s flooded.
I wonder if those guys are ever gonna get their truck again.
This is what I was afraid of.
The worst thing that can happen.
Just one big hole.
It’s really deep.
Ah.
I’m gonna have to check this out.
Ah, it’s right on the dip.
It’s just what I don’t need.
You can never tell under the water just how deep the potholes are on each side.
The first rule of snake hunting: be prepared.
The second: be lucky.
Austin: “Nearly there.
I got it.
I got it.
Keep it low.
It’s a solid tree.
It should be good.
Okay, I’ve got the winder control with me, so I can control the winch from inside here,
backwards and forwards.
Ut I must drive the vehicle as well.
As soon as the winch pulls tighter and I’ve got some traction, then I can use the wheels
as well.
Here we go, see what happens.
It’s coming, it’s coming.
Now the back wheels are in the same hole.
Wind it up, Wind the cable.
Wind, wind, wind.
And it’s out.
Yeah, we’re out.
Fantastic, we’re out.
Excellent.”
I found the valley.
I just need to track down the freshwater spring.
I feel like I’m wandering back in time, to an ancient landscape.
But before I spot the spring, I spy something else.
Austin: “Look at that.
That’s a blue-tongued skink.
This is one of the most beautiful lizards you get in Australia – the biggest skink
they have.
The reason they call it the blue-tongued skink is because he’s got a very, very blue tongue,
which he’s demonstrating quite clearly now.
Look at that.
Eh, show me your tongue.
Look at that.
I’m dying to get a picture of this guy.
They’re so beautiful and so easy to work with.
You’re so pretty, yeah.
You’re so pretty, you are, yes.
Listen to him hissing; you can actually hear him hiss.
Interesting thing about these guys too, they’ll use this blue tongue as a defense mechanism.
The skink’ll flatten his body out when he’s approached by a predator, turn and tilt it
to one side and lift his whole back, giving himself the hardest and most difficult part
to bite.
And then he’ll stick his tongue out quickly like a blue flash.
And the hope is that he would actually frighten away the predator.
Sometimes, if he gets mad at you, he’ll actually do that for you.”
Austin: “Giving me a little hiss?
Flashing the tongue just a little bit, but he’s not, he’s not showing aggression,
which is fantastic because he’s quite happy being here with me.
I want to get a nice picture.
Let me see if I can pose him up here.
This would be a beautiful shot.
Will you relax here for me a bit, just for a second for a picture?
Come on.
He says, ‘I won’t.
I won’t.’
Fantastic.
Just relax for one second.
One second, one second.
Bring your head this way.
Gonna gently coax him into a position, there we go.
He says, ‘I don’t want it.’
Hello.
He says, ‘God, what’s going on here?
This guy’s grabbed me and I’m up in the sky now.’
Show me your tongue, show me your tongue.
He says, ‘I won’t, I won’t, I won’t.’
Back legs are going.
‘Aw, I’m so ticklish.’
Look at him.
He stretches his neck.
He says, ‘Oh, it’s too much to bear.
I can’t take it anymore.’
He says, ‘I’m a ticklish lizard.
Stop it, stop it, stop it.
I don’t like it.
I’m so ticklish.’
He hangs on with his feet, little feet over there.
He says, ‘I’ll just hang on over here while he gets himself over here.’
Look at this.
‘I don’t like it.
I don’t like it.’
You should have bitten me long ago.
You’re such a friendly boy, yes.
Okay, I’m gonna show you this guy’s favourite trick now.
Put them down on the ground, first thing they do is put their head down and then they borough
under the leaves.
That’s how they hunt their food.
They go sc, scavenging for stuff.
Off he goes, right under that pile of leaves.
Borough, borough, borough.”
Austin: ” Oh just look at that.
He’s completely disappeared.
You’d never say there’s a lizard under there.
A big lizard as well.
Thank you for that boy.”
You wouldn’t think it to look at them, but blue-tongued skinks are savage predators.
They’d certainly take on a Cane Toad, but they’d probably die in the process.
The recent rains have made finding animals relatively easy.
Reptiles and amphibians are flushed out of the boroughs and are out hunting for food.
Austin: “Look at this beautiful little boy.
Hello.
This is something I’ve always wanted to photograph.
Oh, say hello.
Look at that face.
Just look at that face.
Say, ‘I’m gorgeous.’
Isn’t he wonderful?
This is a magnificent tree frog.
I’m not just saying that; they’re actually called that.
That’s what their name is.
Oh, are you talking to me?
He’s talking to me.
Listen to that.
Isn’t he gorgeous?
Look at that gorgeous face.
Yes, he says, ‘You’ve come to visit with me in Australia.’
Yes I know, it’s lovely, eh?
He’s so gorgeous.
Aren’t they so beautiful?
I’ve gotta get some pictures.
Come on, we’ll get some photos of you.
What an animal.
Woah.
Oh I’ve just gotta get some photographs of this guy.
He’s absolutely stunningly beautiful.
Aren’t you gorgeous?
You’re talking to me.
You’re so talkative.
Tell me what you’re saying.
He says, ‘God, I don’t like this.
I don’t want my picture taken.’
Alright, let me try like this.
Let’s see if I can let go just for one second, if you’ll just relax.
I’ve gotta get something of this guy.
Stay calm, stay calm.
That’s fantastic.
Lift your foot a little bit.
Lift your foot a little bit.
Isn’t he beautiful?
He’s stunningly beautiful.
You get tree frogs all over the world in all the tropical areas, but in Australia, this
is the biggest tree frog you get.
If I pick him up again, oops, there he goes.
Yeah, and he’s talkative as well.”
Austin: ““Let’s get some pictures with you down
here, eh?
Frogs have got moist skin; it’s good to keep moist.
Look at that.
He’s got, look at the size of his legs, his jumping legs.
Look how long they are.
Do you see that?
Look how big.
You can imagine what a long jump he can take.
He can take a long jump.
But also, with these pads they’ve got on their feet, these little suckers.
Look how he grips on my fingers straight away, see?
Anything they get a feel of, bring my finger in there, it just falls on and it sticks straight
away.
Turn them upside down and you can see them very clearly – one on each toe.
Very big and round and they’ve got webbed feet.
So not only can they jump, cling to walls and trees and rocks and things like that,
they’re great swimmers as well.
If you look on the front, he’s got suckers on the front as well, but he’s only got
four, I believe.
Yeah, he’s still talking to me over here.
He’s just chatting away.
And if you look at his mouth, you’ll see that his mouth stretches from that side right
around to that side.
They’ve got enormous jaws and frogs are good feeders.
You’d be amazed what powerful feeders frogs are.
They’ve got broad tongues, which they pull right back into the throat.
Yes, you’re talking to me.
He says, ‘It’s true.
It’s all true, exactly what he’s saying.’
You gonna come to me?
I’m gonna get a picture just like that, if I can.
Isn’t that fantastic?
He says, ‘Oh, this guy’s not so bad after all, eh?’”
Austin: “Never ceases to amaze me how animals settle
down.
Reptiles especially, and amphibians like this.
Settle down quite happily, as long as they feel they’re not in danger.
Oh!
I can’t get him.
I’ll catch him; he’s quick.
Just incredible.
Perfect swimmer, tree climber.
Everything you want in one frog.
See how he poises himself?
You’ll see straight away when they want to take a jump, they first angle themselves
and he’s got his eye focused on something.
And when he’s decided, look, he’s looking around.
‘Hmm, is there something there I should reach for?
Is there something there I should reach for?’
And when he finally decides to go, that’ll be it.
That’s fantastic.”
It’s hard to believe it could get any hotter.
But hopefully this stream will lead me to the spring.
This is it.
After the journey I’ve had, this feels like my very own Garden of Eden.
This hidden valley is a sheltered pocket of forest amidst a vast, arid landscape.
And it might just provide the ideal habitat for one snake I’m particularly keen to find.
An animal known locally as the night tiger – a tree snake with a reputation for aggression.
Even in this glade, it’s unbearably hot.
A snake out in the open could be dead in less than an hour.
That’s why a tress is not necessarily the best place to find a tree snake.
Austin: “Ah, look here.
Come see what I found.
It’s exactly what I was hoping I might find in this area.
It’s a brown tree snake but it’s completely settled under the rock.
I imagine that he’s actually hiding during the day and keeping himself well hidden, though,
until the night because these are actually nocturnal snakes and they move out in the
night.
He’s obviously got a little hiding hole inside here where he can hide himself away
when he doesn’t need to be.
Very prehensile snake.
You can’t miss that straight away.
I mean these snakes are designed for climbing trees.
Their whole body’s prehensile.
When they get bigger like this – this is quite a large one – they might easily come
down to earth to feed as well.
Bring him out gently.
There we go; I’ve got him.
Ah, he’s stunningly gorgeous.
Look at the colours on this guy.
Is that a snake or what?
He’s fantastic.
Look at the power in that body.
You understand that he’s a completely prehensile snake, designed for climbing trees.
He can hold his whole body out.
He can stretch himself out and he flickers the tongue just to smell.
He says, ‘What is that?
I’m looking at something.
Can I go there?’
Isn’t that fantastic?
Look at him holding his body erect.
What a muscle power, eh?
Yeah.”
Austin: “This guy’s so gorgeous.
He’s so beautiful I’ve just gotta get some photographs of him.
The colours are phenomenal.
I cannot believe the pattern of stripes over here.
If I could put him somewhere where I could be about eye-level in a tree, I might get
some really good shots of him.
Got a nice bit of tree over there.
If I could get this guy just to settle on the tree, I should be able, ah!
Biting at me.
I should be able to get a couple of nice photographs.
See him taking a strike at me?
He’s getting fed up now.
He’s had enough of this childish nonsense.
Let’s get that cap off.
This is quite a nice spot over here.
I’m gonna try and get him to hang onto the tree and pose for a couple of photographs.
Look up.
Hold it, hold it.
There we go.
There we go.
Oh!
Oh!
Striking at my lens.
There we go.
Oh man.
He gets away so quick.”
I’ve got to get at least one photograph.
Austin: “Yeah, just like I thought.
He’s gone.
I’ve gotta get up there quickly, see if I can catch him.
He’s right up top, right on the thinnest part.
Come back here.
I’m going to get him.
Ah, alright.
I got him.
Wasn’t that good luck?
Wasn’t that good luck?
I got him.
He nearly got away.
And I got him right back where I want him.
I’ve gotta get my camera.
There we go.
Okay, enjoy that little bit of escape, eh?
Of course, these are arboreal snakes and mostly they do spend their time up in trees.
And this is a good thing too because they’re feeding up in the trees.
They’re feeding on the lizards and they’re feeding on birds.
Sometimes maybe even some tree frogs.
My hope is that these guys would survive the plague of Cane Toads.
Look at that.”
It would be a great shame if a snake as beautiful as this was wiped out from here.
Austin: “He’s posing quite well.
That’s that shot, that’s it.
At last he’s keeping still.
Look at that shot.
Isn’t that great?
That’s a typical striking pose; he’s ready to let me have it if I don’t let him go.
That’s photography.
Fantastic.
Oh, come on.
There we go.
Oh that’s fantastic.
I mean, he gave me a couple of nips here.
Nothing to worry about, though.
I didn’t give him a chance to actually start chewing his way in.
Now I’m gonna take him up here, just let him slowly move away.
He’s keen to get up there.
Watch him go now.
Watch how easily he moves.
You can’t even see the muscles working, yet he’s moving with total grace.
Isn’t that fantastic?
Gorgeous snake, wonderful stuff.”
It’s been an incredible trip.
My assignment was to document the wonderful creatures that live here before that happens.
It’s a sobering thought that I might be the last person to see these particular animals
alive.
Austin: “It’s frightening to think that if nothing
is done to halt the advance of these Cane Toads, that everything I’ve seen and all
the wildlife in these areas are potentially threatened to the point of extinction.”
Maybe I’ll return in another ten years.
But who knows what will be left.
