PAPUA NEW GUINEA SNAKEBITE PROJECT
BACK TO EXXONMOBIL

We are still keen find further Papuan blacksnakes (Pseudechis papuanus) out on the ExxonMobil LNG site west of Port Moresby so around 05:30 Owen, Ben, Julious, Jasper and I took off out there to meet up with Dave Matthews, now back from leave, for another intensive search of "Blacksnake Corner" where 90% of the blacksnakes have been found on the site.

However, several things were different about today, compared to our previous and successful visit when I caught the big male Papuan blacksnake. Firstly it is drier, the creeks are drying up and the small pools diminishing. It was also a hot sunny day, unlike the overcast weather of before which was more conducive to finding snakes. The six of us trudged around for a couple of hours without even seeing a snake's tail although we did flush a large megani (wallaby) which shot between Owen and myself and nearly collided with Dave Matthews.

These culverts are probably how the blacksnakes access the ExxonMobil site	The exact spot where I caught the male Papuan blacksnake, Pseudechis papuanus, but now much drier

We then went to check some rubbish dumps on the site for snakes but as you would expect for somewhere as massive and industrial as this LNG site, their rubbish does not come small or lightweight and without a fork-lift we did not have a hope in hell of moving any of it.

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