Northern Death Adder Snake

Facts about Northern Death Adder. "Scientific name for Northern Death Adder snake is Acanthophis praelongus and it is an elapid variety of snake that belongs to the genus Acanthophis of the Elapidae family. The Northern Death Adder snakes hail from New Guinea, Australia, and nearby islands, and they are commonly called as the Death Adder. The Northern Death Adder snakes are among the most poisonous snakes in the world. They are largely found in the Northern Territory, western parts of Australia and Queensland.

Features of Northern Death Adder snake

The Northern Death Adder snake is extremely viper-like in look, with a maximum body length of 70 cm (27.5 inches). The Northern Death Adder snakes have a small, healthy body, triangular shaped head and a little sub-ocular scale. They also have perpendicular pupils and several small scales on the crown of their head. The Northern Death Adder snake have long fangs, and they are more mobile than other varieties of death adders in the family, even though still far from the dimension, observed in some of the right vipers. In spite of their name, the Northern Death Adder snakes are not associated with adders that are the members of the Viperidae family, and their similar look is because of convergent evolution.

Normally, the juvenile Northern Death Adder snakes take 2 to 3 years to attain the size of an adult. Generally, adult female Northern Death Adder snakes are slightly bigger than the male ones. They can also be distinguished easily from other snakes of Australia due to a petite, worm like allure on the tip of their tail, which is exercised to draw the prey. The Northern Death Adder snakes have big bands around their bodies, although the color itself is changeable, according to the region. Usually, an adult Northern Death Adder has red or grey, black and yellow as their body colors, but greenish-grey and brown colors are also incorporated into their body.

The Northern Death Adder snake employs a clever hoax to catch its prey. It will lift its intensely colored tip of the tail and gradually waves it, imitating the motion of a caterpillar. As the unwary prey approaches the allure, the snake will jump on it by means of a rapid strike.

Diet of Northern Death Adder snake

The Northern Death Adder usually feeds on voles, mice, shrews, birds, lizards and small creatures by using an intelligent trick to catch them.

Behavior of Northern Death Adder snake

The Northern Death Adder snakes are different from other varieties of snakes in their family that are inclined to escape from human trouble. However, the technique of hunting by ambush of this snake variety inclines it to wait, leading to the idea that the snake cannot heed. However, the Northern Death Adder snakes can heed and identify ground vibrations.

Northern Death Adder snakes do not vigorously hunt like all other snakes, but rather be positioned in ambush and attract their prey to them. When starving, the Northern Death Adder snakes hide themselves in the middle of the substrate. This may be soil, leaf litter or sand, according to their environment. They will expose only their tail and head, both usually extremely camouflaged. The tip of the tail is exploited for caudal luring and when twisted, it is easily misguided for a grub or worm. The Northern Death Adder snake can go from a hit position, to hit and envenoming their victim, and back to hit position again, within 0.15 seconds.

The average lifespan of the Northern Death Adder snake ranges from 70 years to 90 years, according to the variety and the region.