Snakes Without Borders A collection of amazing stories from one of the world's leading herpetologists, who spent 50 years conducting research on snakes

“ My name is Rick, and I’ m a snake-a-holic.” This book is a collection of amazing stories from one of the world’ s leading herpetologists, Rick Shine, who has spent 50 years conducting research on snakes of many different kinds, in many different places around the world, from his home in Australia, through Asia and Europe, to North America and beyond. There’ s something special about snakes; they are scarce and secretive and a bite may land you in the cemetery. Something unearthly and mysterious about a creature than can glide across the ground with no obvious means of propulsion. That never blinks its eyes. That can capture, kill and swallow prey items larger than itself. That can dispense death with a few drops of venom. That can slough away its tattered old skin to emerge resplendent and iridescent. A creature that appears magically in front of you when you least expect it, triggering a unique alarm pathway in your brain. The book offers an entertaining and thought-provoking journey through the remarkable diversity of snake lifestyles around the world. It is written from a personal perspective,

Rick Shine is a professional scientist, currently employed as a Professor at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. For nearly 50 years his primary research interest has been reptiles – especially snakes – in many parts of the world. He has published over 1,000 scientific papers and his work has been cited more than 76,000 times – many more than any other researcher on reptiles past or present. His work has won many awards, including the two top awards for scientific research in Australia: NSW Scientist of the Year and Prime Minister’ s Prize for Science.

Foreword 7 Chapter 1 A devilishly difficult study organism 9 Chapter 2 Looking inside pythons: science in the slaughterhouse 17 Chapter 3 Radio-tracking vipers: adders in the land of Abba 57 Chapter 4 Paradise for pit-vipers: the scariest snakepit 85 Chapter 5 A tsunami of gartersnakes: serpents galore in Canada 129 Chapter 6 Conversing with snakes: when biology meets chemistry 163 Chapter 7 Oceans and islands: a snake in two worlds 191 Chapter 8 Taking the plunge: a sea snake for beginners 245 Chapter 9 Amiable monsters in an underwater Garden of Eden 273 Chapter 10 International snake research in the rear-view mirror 297 Bibliography 306 Index 316