THE WESTERN DESERT TAIPAN!
Myself and a mate embarked on a trip to the Great Victoria Desert some 1500km inland of Perth to find and photograph a Western Desert Taipan (Oxyuranus temporalis). Following a long 2 day drive we got within range by 1am in the morning, then we were up at 4:30am with the sun to begin our search. At 8:10am we were ridiculously lucky to come across this beautiful 1.7m female specimen.
This is the 3rd and most recently discovered Taipan in Australia; only being officially described in 2007. This large, fast and highly venomous snake inhabits the red sandy deserts of inland Australia and because of this remote distribution, very few people have found and photographed this species; I believe under 20 however aboriginal people would have been encountering these snakes for many many years.
Although Taipans don’t have a good reputation in Australia amongst the general public, I can vouch for this individual and say that it was one of the most calm, inoffensive and intelligent reptiles I have ever encountered.
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