In February 2024, Willoughby Living reported on a photograph taken beside the Flat Rock Gully walking track. The image appeared to show a common death adder in a place where experienced Lower North Shore snake catchers did not expect to encounter one. Harley Jones was asked to provide his professional view.
A striking find in Flat Rock Gully
Former Northbridge resident Angus Hamilton took the photograph while walking the track on 15 February 2024. He had previously seen red-bellied black snakes and common tree snakes in the broader area, but the short, heavily patterned animal in the leaf litter was less familiar. The photograph was shared with community and identification groups before experienced identifiers assessed it as a death adder.
Common death adders (Acanthophis antarcticus) have a triangular head, a short, stout body and a noticeably thinner tail. Their shape, pattern and habit of remaining still among leaf litter can make them difficult for an untrained observer to recognise. A photograph should always be taken from a safe distance and never at the cost of approaching the animal.
Harley’s local experience made the location significant
The source feature records Harley explaining that he had not encountered a death adder around Flat Rock Gully during 14 years of professional work. He was familiar with Sydney records from bushland areas farther from the inner Lower North Shore, but the combination of location and colouration made this sighting particularly unusual.
That assessment was based on repeated field experience, not a claim that a death adder could never occur there. Wildlife distribution is not fixed, and a single photograph cannot establish a local population. The discussion instead showed why local knowledge matters when a sighting falls outside an experienced catcher's normal pattern of call-outs.
Death adders can vary in appearance
Harley also explained that the Sydney death adders he had encountered were generally associated with red and grey colour phases. The animal in the Flat Rock photograph did not resemble the forms he normally saw around Sydney's outer bushland. Colour alone is never a safe identification method, but it helped explain why the image generated discussion among experienced handlers.
How could a death adder reach an unexpected location?
The Willoughby Living article raised inadvertent translocation as one possible explanation. A concealed snake can occasionally be moved in camping equipment, stored materials or a load such as firewood. That remained a hypothesis rather than a proven explanation for the Flat Rock animal, and the sighting alone did not establish how it reached the gully.
The sensible lesson is not to assume that a species will only appear in its most familiar locations. Treat every unidentified snake cautiously, whether the property is in Northbridge, Cammeray, Willoughby, St Ives or Wahroonga.
If you see a suspected death adder
- Stop and move away slowly; do not step into nearby leaf litter.
- Keep children, pets and other people well clear of the area.
- Never touch, prod, corner or attempt to capture the snake.
- Watch from a safe position and note exactly where it was last seen.
- Call Harley on 0411 103 488 for professional identification and removal advice.
Professional snake removal on Sydney’s Lower North Shore
Snakes in the City assists residents, strata properties, businesses and community sites across the Lower North Shore and Greater Sydney. Harley combines formal reptile-handling training with more than a decade of call-out experience and operates under NSW General Licence MWL000102655.
If a snake is nearby now, keep your distance and call Harley on 0411 103 488. If anyone may have been bitten, call Triple Zero (000) immediately, keep the person still and follow emergency instructions.
Sources and further reading: Willoughby Living – Death Adder Sighting at Flat Rock · Australian Museum – common death adder · Healthdirect – snake-bite first aid