Dwarf-crowned snake

Description:

My own research leads me to think this is a Dwarf-crowned snake, a lesser known variety of Australian snake species. Their diet consists mainly of small lizards such as skinks. All crowned snakes are reluctant biters, relying more on bluff display than bite. They are weakly venomous and have tiny mouths and short fangs. They will generally rear up & ‘mock strike’ with mouth closed, more of a ‘head butt’. This snake was about 30cms in length so is quite small, and the neck band is coppery brown so I know it is not a juvenile red belly black snake. I almost stepped on this fellow because it was a pitch-black night, so the image was taken with a flash. It was on the driveway at a friend's place in the Brisbane suburb of Wynnum QLD Australia.

Habitat:

In SE QLD, they are coastal and only found to the East of the Great Dividing Range in rainforests and sheltered moist areas within open forest, along creek lines amongst leaf litter, rocks, etc. In suburban areas they like moist localities around the yard, under most ground detritus such as compost, logs and stones, and in well-vegetated gardens.

Notes:

From an artistic point of view, this is my idea of minimalism and probably only one of a couple of shots I have taken that I can say for sure are minimalistic in style. I've seen many people's interpretation of this but I think this one is right on the money. It's simple and elegant, as minimalism should be.