(Pseudonaja) and the only member of the genus not
regarded as dangerous. Nevertheless, I would treat
a bite as serious, since brown snakes can be
difficult to tell apart.
After exploring the Red Centre, I made my way
south to Coober Pedy. I still wasn’t having much
luck, and I was also running out of time before I had
to get back to work. I had six days to be exact; it
took me a day to get to Coober Pedy, which gave
me two days to search and three days to drive back
to Newcastle to be back at work on the Monday
morning.
Coober Pedy is a popular stop for travellers on the
way north from Adelaide. It is famous for being the
‘opal capital of the world’ and also for its under-
ground houses called ‘dugouts’, which are built to
escape the harsh heat of the day. Coober Pedy has
well over seventy opal fields, which indeed makes it
the largest opal mining area in the world. The name
comes from the Aboriginal expression kupa-piti,
meaning ‘boys’ waterhole’.
The next morning I was up at 5am to renew my
search for an Inland Taipan. I drove all day, using
up two and a half tanks of fuel, and periodically
searching on foot as hard as I could. I ended up
getting really sunburnt and giving up after 10pm.
The following day I did the same thing, with similar
results until about sunset. Then I spotted a snake
about 50 metres off what could loosely be called a
‘road’. It was similar in colour to a Fierce Snake, but
when I got closer I realised it was actually a
Western Brown Snake (Pseudonaja mengdeni). I
will admit it was good to find something in this
almost unbearable habitat. I made the decision to
stay a third day, giving me only two days to drive
home. I followed the same routine the next morning,
but at 8am I saw something off the road. I ran over
to discover that I had finally found a Fierce Snake,
but unfortunately it quickly ducked into a hole. I
went back to the car and kept going. Then at
roughly 12:30, when I was heading into town to
refuel and get some lunch, I saw another sitting in
the middle of the road. At last my hard work had
paid off.
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