A holidaying bushwalker searching for virtual Pokemon has instead shot riveting live video of three big red-bellied black snakes 30 centimetres from his feet.
On the video, the snakes each between 1.5 and two metres long, are writhing and wrestling in an apparent mating ritual at Lake Tabourie.
Thomas Aggs was on the public bushwalking path between the eastern edge of the lake and the beach with partner Emilie Enoch.
“I heard something just to my right and looked straight down at the edge of the path,” Mr Aggs said.
“I saw three necks that all looked connected, literally 30 centimetres from the path putting their heads up from the bush.
“I got a fright and thought I was looking a some sort of hydra-mutant three-headed Medusa.
“I shouted to Emilie and got her back a bit.”
Then Thomas, “tourist that I am, had to run back for my GoPro.”
So he raced back across the shallow section of lake.
By the time he returned the snakes were further back towards the lake’s edge in a dip in the grass that “looked like it might have been a nest”.
He had mounted his GoPro on a stick, ensuring more than two metres distance between himself and the reptiles.
“After walking along the path, looking on my phone I realised I’m never playing Pokemon near traffic but could have been bitten by a snake.”
- Thomas Aggs
“It was long enough to get in close but not feel unsafe,” Thomas said.
“They were hissing at each other and their mouths were open.
“They were almost exactly the same length, about one and a half to two metres.”
Aware of his presence, the snakes couldn’t decide whether to keep up whatever ritual they were involved in or pay attention to the potential intruder and defend the grass hollow.
They writhed, knotted and stuck their heads up for more than a minute before sliding off towards the water’s edge.
The Pokemon irony wasn’t lost on him.
“After walking along the path, looking on my phone I realised I’m never playing Pokemon near traffic but could have been bitten by a snake,” he said.
Emilie said “I was a little bit freaked out, I felt they might be a bit dangerous and didn’t want him to get too close”.
However Thomas said he “knew they wouldn’t lunge out at me because I’ve seen that behaviour before”.
“At first I wouldn’t have got such a fright if I’d seen them from further away.
“I looked on the Australian Museum website - mating season is apparently from the start of October to November.”
The museum says the red-bellied black snake is, for its size, probably the least dangerous elapid snake in Australia.
Despite the number of bites received every year, very few human deaths have resulted (most death records date from early times and the snake's identity was often unconfirmed).
Many bite victims experience only mild or negligible symptoms, however a number also end up hospitalised.
The health risks to children and pets are greater, due to their smaller size.
As individual reactions to envenomation can vary, all suspected bites should be treated as serious and medical attention sought as soon as possible.
►Check out more information about red-bellied black snakes, including behaviour such as mating rituals here.
