When it comes to reptiles, Tasmania is a pretty uniform place... with the exception of one small thorny 'dragon' (which we didn't find), the choices are either skinks or poisonous snakes. And we didn't do too badly, with good looks at two of the three snakes and a handful of skinks.
Lowland Copperhead, a big, gentle but very poisonous snake
Tiger Snake
Metallic Skink: by far the commonest reptile, often found sunbathing on boardwalked paths, and quite happily staying put as walkers passed by.
White's Skink, a larger and beautifully patterned animal, quite common at Freycinet National Park but not seen anywhere else.
And then a trio of Tasmanian endemics: the Spotted (also confusingly known as the Ocellated Skink, seen in several spots around Bicheno.
Tasmanian Tree Skink, at Freycinet NP
and the large Northern Snow Skink, up high on Ben Lomond.
We also saw a couple of the large, chunky Blotched Blue-tongued Skinks dead on the road, and some of the group found one in the Botanic Garden at Hobart.
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