Cacophis harriettae
Silhouette: SeismicShrimp · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Cacophis harriettae, also known commonly as Harriett's snake, the white-crowned snake, and the white-naped snake, is a species of mildly venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is endemic to Australia. The specific epithet, harriettae, honours natural history illustrator Harriet Scott, who illustrated Gerard Krefft's The Snakes of Australia, including this species.
C. hariettae grows to an average total length (including tail) of 40 cm (16 in), and a maximum total length of 56 cm (22 in). The upper surface of the body is dark grey to black, with broad white bands extending from the snout along the sides of the head to meet at the nape.
C. hariettae is oviparous, with an average clutch size of five (range 2–10). C. hariettae preys upon on lizards, and also eats reptile eggs. The distribution of C. hariettae extends from Mount Abbott, near Proserpine in eastern Queensland, south-eastwards to north-eastern New South Wales.
C. harriettae occurs in moist habitats, including rainforests and wet sclerophyll forests as well as suburban gardens. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brisbane | 🇦🇺 Australia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-crowned Snake sighting in Brisbane on a given day, based on 42 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 27th most-seen of the 43 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July, October and December–May
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-crowned Snake in Brisbane on a given day, against under 5% in June, August–September and November, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-crowned Snake sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is seen both by day and at night.
Only Brisbane, in our data
Brisbane is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate White-crowned Snake sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-crowned Snake is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Brisbane (42 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
