wrote in message
On Mar 10, 10:15 am, "FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote:
Are there any amateur herpitologists reading here?

Yesterday just after having spent hours working in a particular spot, I
saw
a Tiger Snake there. When I told my husband he said, "But he's such a
friendly snake". (And to think I've been married to this goose of a man
for nearly 40 years!)

Anyway, I was telling a neighbour this tale of husband silliness and they
said that snakes are cranky at the moment as it's breeding season. My
response was that I thought they bred earlier in the season. Neighbour
then
said that it could be that they are shedding their skins now and that is
why
they are cranky. I checked with a friend whose son has pythons and she
said
they do get cranky when they shed their skins and that she once had to
help
to wrestle a snake into a bathtub to aid it when it failed to shed as it
should and it got super cranky.

The sum total of this all these exchanges made me realise that although I
frequently see snakes, I don't know lot about them. I know a fair amount
about the birds and other animals aroudn here but not snakes.

Does anyone know anythign about the life cycle of snakes? Or a good book
on
the subject?

Rick Shine, University of Sydney, has written a very readable book on
the subject. Shine, R. 1993. Australian Snakes. A Natural History.
Revised Edition, 223 pages, Reed Books, Sydney. Reprinted, 1994.
Published by New Holland Press, 1998. Reprinted 1999 and 2001.
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Thank you for the recommendation Tish. Doing a google, I see that
Shimne's book gets lots of recommendations in the various snake groups.
Sounds good and it certainly features more that books I have on the subject.