Amazing wildlife that comes out at night on the Gold Coast photographed by Todd Michaelsen

THESE creatures might err on the side of creepy rather than cute and cuddly but a Gold Coast photographer devotes hours each week searching for them in the darkness for fun.

Gold Coast wildlife photographer Todd Michaelsen captures some unique and scary creatures and shares his passion for Australian wildlife on social media. Pictured is a brown tree snake (boiga irregularis). Photo: Todd Michaelsen/@todds_wildlife

THEY’RE mainly creepy rather than cute and cuddly, but a Gold Coast photographer is devoting hours each week searching in the dark for slithery, scaly creatures — and he does it for fun.

Todd Michaelsen ignores painful memories of being bitten by snakes as he pokes around in holes, picks up logs and wades through streams in search of the weird and wonderful wildlife that calls our bushland home.

Much of the time he’s focusing on snakes, lizards, frogs and insects, but he’s also a fan of birds and mammals.

A red-bellied black snake. Photo: Todd Michaelsen/@todds_wildlife

Todd Michaelsen behind the lense photographing a python. Photo: Todd Michaelsen/@todds_wildlife

Mr Michaelsen, whose Instagram handle is @todds_wildlife, has been photographing wildlife as a hobby since 2013, but when he began using his Nikon DSLR a couple of years later it became an obsession.

“I have been bitten by snakes, the majority of them pythons,” said the 27-year-old from Currumbin Waters.

Amazing creatures of the night

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“But a few weeks ago I received a dry bite from a venomous rough-scaled snake.

“It didn’t pump its venom into me, it just nicked me — it was a juvenile.

“They can be life-threatening, their venom is similar to a tiger snake.”

Mr Michaelsen, who has kept funnel web spiders as pets and is more comfortable trekking through the bush in thongs than boots, said he hoped to turn his passion for wildlife photography into a business.

Pictured is Todd Michaelsen with a chunky red-bellied black snake.

He can spends up to 24 hours walking through dense rainforest or “road herping” (driving along looking for snakes using the asphalt for warmth) to find his next subject, no matter their size or how deadly or fiesty they are.

“As a kid I loved dinosaurs,” said Mr Michaelsen, who aspires to become a reptile handler.

“I think because reptiles are the closest living thing to dinosaurs, I got hooked on them.

“The photography part came because I always looked at other people’s photos and I decided it was time to do it for myself.

Gold Coast wildlife photographer Todd Michaelsen captures some unique and scary creatures and shares his passion for Australian wildlife on social media. Pictured is a couple of bandy-bandy snakes. Photo: Todd Michaelsen/@todds_wildlife

“I do like to try and find endangered species locally.’’

Mr Michaelsen tries to show off a different side to animals that might be seen as menacing or lethal, hoping to change public perception and raise awareness.

“One of my pet hates is people having a hatred for reptiles because they’re not soft and cuddly,” Mr Michaelsen said.

“I try to get a lot of personality out of the animal I am photographing.”

He has a lengthy wildlife bucket list that encompasses Gold Coast, southeast Queensland and all across Australia.

A southern angle-headed dragon (lophosaurus spinipes). Photo: Todd Michaelsen/@todds_wildlife

“I would love to photograph a Gold Coast tiger snake and death adder,” he said.

“I find more frogs than snakes, but it’s more of a thrill when I find a snake.”

Mr Michaelsen said he dreamt of discovering a species that had not been documented before.

But realising that would require a lot of patience and perseverance — the two important attributes of a wildlife photographer.