ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the first research program conducted on the ecology of snakes in Australia. The research was conducted by Rick Shine as his Ph.D. project at the University of New England, a rural campus in the city of Armidale, New South Wales, in eastern Australia. It includes a discussion of issues confronting an early-career researcher as they try to select appropriate study species, questions, and institutions. The research provided the first detailed information on topics such as dietary habits, reproductive biology, and sex-based differences in adult body size in a range of venomous (elapid) snake species. The chapter also discusses aspects of fieldwork with deadly snakes.
