World

Venomous snakes found tangled in a vicious ‘fight to the death,’ Australia video shows

A couple walking in the Onkaparinga River Recreation Park spotted a brown snake attacking a red belly snake in a vicious fight, video shows.
A couple walking in the Onkaparinga River Recreation Park spotted a brown snake attacking a red belly snake in a vicious fight, video shows. Sceengrab from Min Cook's video shared by News.com.au

A couple on a walk in Australia spotted two venomous snakes tangled in a vicious fight as one attempted to eat the other, video shows.

Min Cook and Sarah Williams went for a walk at Onkaparinga River Recreation Park in Seaford Meadows when they spotted the “fascinating and terrifying” sight of two snakes locked in a “fight to the death,” Cook said in a Jan. 5 Facebook post.

A brown snake attacked a red belly snake, attempting to eat it, Cook said. “The brown snake had the whole head of the red belly in its mouth and had coiled itself around five or six times,” she wrote. “We could see it squeezing and almost pulsing.”

The vicious fight was captured on video and shared by News.com.au on YouTube Jan. 11. The brown snake latched onto the head of the red belly snake as the victim continued to thrash.

The snake fight was only about 15 feet from the path, Cook said. The red belly snake fought its attacker for about 10 minutes but was likely unsuccessful.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Cook said, “and as cool as it was, I kinda hope I never do again.”

Brown snakes hunt with “both venom and constrictions,” according to the Australian Museum. Red-bellied black snakes are also venomous and “responsible for a number of bites every year” in Australia, the museum said.

Onkaparinga River Recreation Park is in Seaford Meadows, a suburb of Adelaide, and about 450 miles northwest of Melbourne.

Read Next
Read Next
Read Next

This story was originally published January 12, 2023 at 3:43 PM with the headline "Venomous snakes found tangled in a vicious ‘fight to the death,’ Australia video shows."

Aspen Pflughoeft
McClatchy DC
Aspen Pflughoeft covers real-time news for McClatchy. She is a graduate of Minerva University where she studied communications, history, and international politics. Previously, she reported for Deseret News.
Get one year of unlimited digital access for $159.99
#ReadLocal

Only 44¢ per day

SUBSCRIBE NOW