Owner of Australian Snake Catcher who cares for one of the world's most venomous animal shares a new image capturing the insides of the eggs gifted to a New South Wales snake catcher at the start of the year.
Sean Cade was happy to report the eggs are developing well and may hatch "sometime in March." A snake catcher in New South Wales in Australia surrogated the 23 "perfect" eggs at the beginning of the year.
According to Daily Star UK, the new images captured the "eerie veins and dark mass" seen through the shell of "alien-like" eggs.
Eastern brown snakes, often referred to as the common brown snake, are a species of highly venomous snake in the family Elapidae.
It was native to eastern and central Australia and southern New Guinea, considered Australia's second most venomous land snakes.
A "rare" event for the surrogate mother
A Warty Snake (Lachesis acrochorda) is seen next to its eggs at the Serpentarium of the University of Antioquia in Medellin, Antioquia department, Colombia on October 29, 2013. This is the first time in the country that a viper in captivity laid eggs.
Sean's Australian Snake Catchers was gifted the group of eastern brown snake's eggs when a gravid snake laid them in his bag overnight. While she surrogates, he said a friend is currently acting as a stand-in aunty.
"She has got the incubator," Sean told 9News. "She's misting them. Snake eggs are leathery and soft, not rock hard like a bird egg, so they need moisture." Sean added that eastern brown snakes leave their eggs in the wild once laid, leaving them to hatch and fend for themselves.
He believes six out of the 23 eggs laid will hatch, with 16 eggs being the average number birthed by the species. "Six is good, if I can save one of these eggs, that's a good result in my book," the snake expert notes. He reveals that the snakes will be returned to the wild as they will instantly become venomous. In addition, baby snakes will be too fragile to milk for the state's anti-venom program when born.
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Important Species in Australia
Although widely seen as extremely dangerous (with a bite that could cause ause haemorrhage, cardiovascular collapse and cardiac arrest), brown snakes serve as free pest and rodent control to farmers and landholders.
"It's unfortunate how I came to have them in having to rescue the mum in the first place," Sean said. "They're an important part of the ecosystem."
According to Australian Museum, the reptiles can be particularly abundant in rural areas that have been heavily modified for agricultural purposes. They are also frequently encountered on the suburban periphery of many large towns and cities.
Widespread throughout eastern Australia, from northern Queensland to South Australia, evidence shows that the species reached New Guinea from northern Queensland (far eastern populations) and Arnhem Land (southern populations) during the Pleistocene. The museum adds that given the readily inhabited areas disturbed by human activity and predating on an abundant, exotic food source (house mice), the future of brown snakes seems assured.
Australia is nearing the end of snake season, which runs from around mid-September to March.
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