Patricia Parker has captured footage of two large male Red-bellied Black Snakes battling it out as snake breeding season in now underway.
As spring weather starts to warm up Patricia said she heard a commotion at the back of her home, and she went to investigate.
“I went to see what my cat was doing as there were Willy Wagtails going off at the tree where she was,” Patricia said.
“I walked over and then I noticed the two red bellied black snakes just a foot away from her.
“It was then I backed off and grabbed my phone.”
Patricia said she watched and filmed the combat for about 40 minutes from a distance.
She wasn’t sure if it was a mating ritual or rivalry until posting the video on a Childers social media group.
“They were around four foot long each. I zoomed in whilst filming them,” she said.
“They were fighting (as I found out by a snake catcher).
Red-bellied Black Snakes fight each other only during mating season when they jostle to gain access to a female.
Jousting involves the two rivals spreading their necks and rearing up their fore-bodies and twisting their necks around each other and getting entwined during the struggle.
The snakes may also hiss loudly and bite each other – they are immune to their own species’ toxin.
This jostling usually lasts for less than half an hour with one of the contenders conceding defeat by leaving the area.
Middle of snake breeding season
After viewing the footage local snake catcher Jake Stinson from Jakes Reptile Relocations said the Red-bellied Black Snakes definitely appeared to be in the common display of male combat.
“Often times they might even bite each other as well,” he said.
“Snake mating is actually rather boring to watch as all you’ll really see are the tails intertwined.”
Jake said as the Bundaberg Region is in the midst of snake breeding season, the slithery reptiles become more focused fighting other males and finding their mates.
“They don’t care as much about being seen or where they end up when they are engaged so it can be more common to see them close to home as well as hear them as they can make quite a bit of noise,” he said.
“The snakes are just doing what they do every year and it can be great to witness these natural processes in person.”
Earlier news: Snakes more active as weather warms up
