Image from the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
Contributed by Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley.
| www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Transcription
Greene, H.
1997
June 9 (continued)
tongue flicks. About 2050 in the snake
swims under surface directly ~5cm
above a Pseudechis guttatus without
any evidence of recognition by either. Then
snake swims two 4-5 m long, wide arcs
out into the pond, seemingly chasing distant
water insects and/or tadpoles. We see a 2 cm
water insect move ~30cm on surface vegetation
and suddenly two nearly juvenile Sinomatrix
trianguligera materialize and liven toward it,
then away and out of our view. Then
we see a second 50-60 cm Sinomatrix resting
in subsurface vegetation ~3m from shore w/
delicious sagging food load. We throw two
Polypedates near it but snake no attacks.
At the station Nikolai has caught a big F
Dingodon cf. myoxodon w/obvious food
burst, from which I palp a head-first
swallowed large gravid F Megophrys
latonii. In the process Kelly and I
are each bitten repeatedly by the snake,
and it sprays cloacal gland secretion
and uric acid over all three of us.
Later I say "Nikolai, sorry the snake
slit on you," and Natasha grins and
says "it's not the first time!" He
also got a big Fazeas margaritophorus.