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In April, Double Helix reader, Owen Bardell, got the chance to write a review for a new book called, Caution! This Book Contains Deadly Reptiles by Corey Tutt and illustrated by Ben Williams.

“I really liked this book,” writes Owen. “I especially liked that it was written and illustrated by Indigenous people and that it included the Indigenous names for the reptiles from the many different Countries they live on in Australia.”

While reading, Owen discovered a special fact about a local reptile from Ngunnawal Country called the Gudamun. “I learnt that Indigenous people use the term ‘deadly’ to mean cool or awesome,” writes Owen. “And the deadly fact I learnt about the Gudamun is that they can release a really, really stinky smell to scare away predators!”

Owen gave the book 5 stars and he got the chance to ask Corey and Ben questions about their book. Read on for Owen’s interview!

1. In the book you travelled to lots of places, which was your favourite Country to visit and why?  

That’s a difficult question. I’ll always gravitate towards Kamilaroi country because that’s home, where my ancestors are from. However, I also love visiting Kuku Yalanji country and Yuin country.

I think my favourite chapter of the book was about Badu in the Torres Strait Islands. The place is magical and so biodiverse. When I visited Badu, I found many northern death adders and saw a lot of crocodiles, which really excites me. Being in a place so rich in culture was one of the best moments of my life, and I’ll probably reflect on that time forever.

2. Of all the different reptiles in the book, which do you think is the most deadly? 

Another hard-hitting question! Personally, I love death adders – they’re my favourite snake. Shinglebacks are my favourite lizard, and I also have a deep love for crocodiles and sea turtles. However, I think the broad-headed snake has always been particularly significant for me in my career. When I worked as a zookeeper on Yuin country, there was something really special about finding them in the wild, especially since they are critically endangered. I loved looking after them in the zoo, and they’re one of my favourite snakes to find when I’m out herping (herping means looking for reptiles).

3. When you visited the Elders to talk about Language what did they tell you about the importance of Indigenous Language?  

There are two parts to this question. The first is that our languages are critically under threat; they’re at risk of being lost, which has created a sense of urgency among Elders and language holders to share and preserve language to keep it alive. The second part is that many language names exist with descriptions for animals. As part of the consultation process, we worked with Elders to help identify species based on location and description. With the research for this book, we were able to do this for 16 species.

The commonality between all the traditional owner groups was that this book was just as important to them as it is to the kids reading it. It’s a resource that can help keep language alive, alongside strengthening the relationships between our people and reptiles.

4. How did you include words from Languages that are sleeping?

It was a bit like being a forensic detective. For example, recently, when working with Western Bundjalung Elders and language holders about some of the reptile species that occur on their country, we found that their language dictionary for Western Bundjalung listed two language names and two separate descriptions for the tiger snake. Tiger snakes are only found in a small pocket of Bundjalung country, and they tend to have more pale banding and a creamish colour. However, the name Baguyehr, meaning “Brown Tiger Snake with black stripes and rough scales,” seemed to match the description of a close relative of the tiger snake — the rough-scaled snake, which is found all over Bundjalung country.

When we showed Elders photos of the snake, they were confident that Baguyehr actually referred to the rough-scaled snake. We were then able to work towards identifying that snake in the dictionary.

5. Did you have any challenges when putting this book together and how did you get through them?

Creating a book that has never existed before comes with many challenges. Most people would likely find the Traditional owner consultations to be the most difficult part, but for me, I found the Western science facts about our reptiles to be the most challenging. Herpetologists are a bit like mob — they don’t always get along and often have differing opinions.

For this book, I created a database of Traditional names for 400 species across over 50 languages, and the hardest part of all was having to leave many of them out.

Book illustrator, Ben answered:

What was your favourite reptile to draw in the book and what makes them deadly?

My favourite reptile to paint in the book was under Gija country the Jilinggoowiny, which in the English name is the curl snake. This was one of my favourites but the hardest to paint. This one piece took 4-5 days whereas others took on average 3 days. Whilst painting this snake I had used the colours of the snake blending it with browns, ochre yellow, yellow, dark brown and black.

Through the next layer it was time to do the snake scales. Now this was the hardest process as I had to identify how to paint this part. I made two attempts doing the scales and decided it wasn’t the outcome I wanted to achieve, so I painted over it.

On the third try I managed to find the process and the outcome I wanted to achieve, through that it was to paint each individual line with the tip of a wooden kebab skewer. My other favourite would be bias of me, which would also be under Gija country the Dawool/Thoowerndemanbel english name is the black-headed python. The reason I loved this one is because it is my Totem and under my country it is called Milwayi. Also fun fact it “is one of the prettiest snakes in the world.”

I really liked the pictures you drew for the book, how did you draw them and what tools did you use?

Well my illustrations were all individually painted, taking over nine months to create. My medium was acrylic on canvas sheets using paint brush, wooden kebab skewers and at times my fingers to blend. I was using a broad range of colours from blue, green, purple to pinks, browns, orange, red and black. Using a broad range of colours really allowed me to emphasise the details and bring them to life. Each piece had over 5-7 layers of painting them. Meaning I paint, let them dry and paint the next layer overlapped by the previous layers.