From poolside bears and prowling bobcats to the occasional lost seal and a dog-squeezing python or two, backyards everywhere have turned up some fascinating wildlife sightings. The latest eyebrow-raising encounter comes to us from a predictably reliable source: an Australian backyard.
When Victoria resident Liz Williams glanced out of the window of her home in Nanneella earlier this year, she was startled to see a deadly tiger snake entangled in a wrestling match with an even deadlier eastern brown. Williams quickly began filming the duel, which ended with the larger eastern brown snake sinking its fangs into the skull of its opponent before starting to swallow it whole.
"It was amazing, I didn't even know they would fight like that, let alone eat one another," Williams told the Riverine Herald. Eastern browns (Pseudonaja textilis) have a fearsome reputation Down Under and it’s not without precedent: they are one of the world's most dangerous venomous snakes. They grow to about 1.5 metres (five feet) or more, and feast on a variety of prey, including – quite evidently – other snakes. Eastern browns often slither their way into houses, and bites to humans are relatively common (though they mostly result from people trying to handle or kill the animals).
Tiger snakes (Notechis scutatus) are no slouch in the venom department either. Armed with a potent cocktail of neurotoxins, coagulants, haemolysins, and myotoxins, a bite from a tiger snake can be fatal to humans.
Reluctant to play host to a tangle of deadly reptiles, Williams called on a local snake handler to remove the animals.
Snake catcher Craig Bergman was surprised by the sighting. "He hadn't seen [something like] that before in 20 years in his line of business," says Williams.
Bergman carefully placed the 125-centimetre eastern brown (complete with partially consumed tiger snake) into a bag to be released at a later stage.
Unfortunately, the stress of the relocation caused the snake to regurgitate its hard-earned meal. Bergman suggests that the 100-centimetre tiger snake may also have been a touch too lengthy for the eastern brown to comfortable gobble down.
Animal Behaviour
Predator vs Prey
Backyard wildlife
