One of the world’s most venomous snakes has been filmed fighting a less venomous – but no less infamous – snake in Australia. It's always Australia. However, pundits might be surprised about the showdown's outcome.
Sean Shaw was ring-side in Myponga, South Australia and managed to capture the tussle on video. In the blue corner was the larger red-bellied black snake, and up against it was the title-holder for one of the world’s most venomous land snakes, the brown snake.
While the red-bellied black snake is also venomous, their bite is rarely life-threatening to humans and they are not typically aggressive. Nevertheless, since they are frequently spotted in urban areas around eastern Australia, they have gathered a reputation as one of Australia’s most dangerous snakes.
Taking inspiration from Mike Tyson, the snakes exchanged bites and blows for a fair few minutes. However, the underdog red-bellied black snake eventually proved victorious, and even managed to eat the smaller brown snake.
Considering the strength of the brown snake’s venom, the outcome of the duel is fairly unexpected. However, Corey Renton from Snake Away Services told the Adelaide Advertiser that it could perhaps be explained by the time of hunting the snakes are used to.
“Red-bellies are actually reptile eaters,” he said. “Brown snakes much prefer rodents while red-bellies eat frogs and lizards, they live in dams and creeks naturally.”
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