Australia is a pretty reliable source for exciting suburban animal sightings. The latest clip doing the rounds shows a particularly determined brushturkey pecking at a python as the snake slithers across a driveway in search of safety.

According to Kate Carruthers who filmed the encounter, the python was likely in search of the brushturkey's nesting mound – a mass of organic material that the males of the species scrape together to provide a natural incubator for the female to lay her eggs in. In addition to creating the mound, the male Australian brushturkeys will also diligently protect it from predators until the eggs hatch, at which point the youngsters are on their own. It can take several months for a male to complete construction on their all-important heaps which contain a significant amount of organic material.

Brushturkeys are common in rainforest and scrub along the east coast of Australia, where their range overlaps with that of the diamond python – a sizeable constrictor known to frequent suburban areas. Although the snakes prefer a diet of small mammals which they catch by ambush, this brushturkey was not taking any chances and made sure to see off the potential threat. 

Header image: JJ Harrison