![](../images/herps/thumbnails/15102529PD_snake.jpg)
![](../images/herps/thumbnails/05110665PD_Pseudonaja_affinis.jpg)
![Mainland Dugite (Pseudonaja affinis affinis)](../images/herps/standard/15102523PD_snake.jpg)
![Mainland Dugite (Pseudonaja affinis affinis)](../images/herps/standard/15102526PD_snake.jpg)
![Mainland Dugite (Pseudonaja affinis affinis)](../images/herps/standard/15102529PD_snake.jpg)
I tried to learn the origin of the interesting name "dugite", but all I managed to learn was that the Noongar word for "dugite" is "dobitj", which really didn't help.
![Rottnest Island Dugite (Pseudonaja affinis exilis)](../images/herps/standard/05110623PD_Pseudonaja_affinis.jpg)
![Rottnest Island Dugite (Pseudonaja affinis exilis)](../images/herps/standard/05110676CD_Pseudonaja_affinis.jpg)
![Rottnest Island Dugite (Pseudonaja affinis exilis)](../images/herps/standard/05110665PD_Pseudonaja_affinis.jpg)
We saw two of these fairly drab but highly venomous snakes in our one afternoon on the island. I spotted the first one meandering about near the side of the road just after cycling past a well-placed sign warning about venomous snakes. My friend Don MacCubbin spotted the second one an hour or so later. This second one was poking around under a rock, presumably looking for tasty lizards or rodents, until it became alerted to our presence, whereupon it gave us some annoyed cobra-like poses.
Here is a complete list of the reptiles and frogs I saw on this trip to Western Australia.
- Bush, B., Maryan, B., Browne-Cooper, R., Robinson, D. 1995. A Guide to the Reptiles and Frogs of the Perth Region
- Cogger, H. G. 2014. Reptiles & Amphibians of Australia, Seventh Edition
- Hoser, R. T. 1989. Australian Reptiles & Frogs
- Swan, G. 1995. A Photographic Guide to Snakes & Other Reptiles of Australia
- Wilson, S. K., Knowles, D. 1988. Australia's Reptiles: A Photographic Reference to the Terrestrial Reptiles of Australia
- Wilson, S. and Swan, G. 2003. Reptiles of Australia