‘Like David and Goliath’: Redback spider battles a lethal brown snake in a suburban backyard in a showdown between two of Australia’s deadliest animals
- A redback spider has taken an unexpected victory against a baby brown snake
- A woman in Burton, Adelaide, saw the creatures battling in her yard on Friday
- She quickly pulled out her camera as the spider bit the reptile caught in its web
- The snake later died and experts say the spider would have returned to feast
A redback spider has slayed a deadly brown snake in a cut-throat battle in a suburban backyard.
An Adelaide woman was putting her washing out on Friday afternoon when she stumbled across the snake entangled in web with a spider on its back.
A video of the clash shows the serpent suspended in the web, desperately trying to break free.
But the spider swiftly wraps its silk up the snake’s body and over its head until it is completely engulfed before scurrying away.
The Redback spider wound the web around the snake then repeatedly bit it around its head
Snake Catchers Adelaide owner Rolly Burrell said the spider showed great ‘intelligence’ fighting its opponent.
‘The redback was winding more and more web around its head so the snake couldn’t open its mouth,’ Mr Burrell told Daily Mail Australia.
‘The spider kept going back and biting around his head, and it bit so many times it immobilised it.’
‘By the time we arrived it had already received lots of venom, it was really effective, especially biting around its head.’
Mr Burrell said he asked the woman to separate the animals with a stick but she was too terrified to intervene.
When the removalists arrived, the snake was still alive but it died a few hours later.
Mr Burell said his team took the snake when they arrived but it later died
Mr Burrell said the spider, a highly venomous species found throughout Australia, would have returned later to eat its prey.
‘When we got there, the spider ran off. It’s pretty intelligent. He knew what he was doing,’ he said.
‘He would of gone back for it after a rest. You think its a little insect but these things are much smarter than we give them credit for.’
Mr Burrell said it is not the first time he has seen the two species in a battle to death, and every time the arachnid has won.
‘We’ve seen it quite a few times. It’s like David and Goliath,’ he said.
Brown snakes are responsible for around 50 per cent of all snake bite deaths in Australia.
Juvenile snakes are just as venomous as adults, although, as the creature matures the toxins in its venom change.