Aussie snake warning as footage captures bizarre behaviour: 'Not seen before'
Is it a brawl over a female, or a bizarre mating ritual by eager snakes coming out of hibernation?
An Aussie neighbourhood was left astounded by a 'party' of snakes spotted swinging wildly from a residential rooftop. The footage which was shared online, shows three pythons hanging from an apparent satellite dish on a roof. It comes as there's been reports of a 'crazy influx' of snakes.
The remarkable moment was captured by Adam Reimnitz who filmed the scene at his neighbour's house in Cudgen, near Kingscliff in northern NSW. "There were five of us there, we all just watched, it was very interesting," he told Yahoo News Australia.
Describing the scene, Reimnitz said "two snakes were tangled, hanging off the roof, swinging around" before one climbed onto the roof and disappeared. Then all three of them decided to hang off the roof and swing around some more. One then retreated back into the roof via the gutter."
Afterwards, the group "left the snakes to it", adding that the group of snakes had been "keeping the person who lives there awake at night making heaps of noise.
"I've not seen snakes do that before but we do see heaps of snakes around the property," he added.
Why are the snakes behaving like this?
While many, including Reimnitz, believed that it was three males fighting over an unseen female, WIRES volunteer Gary Pattinson told Yahoo News Australia the behaviour seen in the video is actually a "mate ball". A mating ball is where two or more males are trying to mate with a single female”.
"It's that time of year when all snakes want to think about is sex and food," he explained.
"You get a bunch of males that are really keen to mate and they all sort of hone in on a female that just happens to be close by," he said. "They're not so much taking turns, it’s just they're all basically trying to get a go," Professional snake catcher Troy Hovenden told Yahoo of a similar situation last year.
While pythons are not venomous, Aussies reacted with disbelief over the scene. "I would die," said one Aussie.
"Oh the stuff of nightmares," agreed another.
"Thats amazing.... got to love Mother Nature," said a third.
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Snake catchers warn of 'massive influx' as weather warns
The footage comes as snake catchers across the country are warning Aussies of a "massive influx" of snakes due to unseasonably warm weather causing more snake sightings in homes and businesses.
"It just went crazy straight away," Courtenay Brown, also known as That Snake Lady, told Yahoo News Australia. "It has been a couple of callouts every day for a few weeks. So that's quite a lot for me."
"The season always starts mid to late August, but that last week of August was one of the busiest seven days that we've ever had. It was ridiculous," Stuart McKenzie, of Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers 24/7, told Yahoo last month.
Tips on maintaining a snake-free environment at home
Keep your yard tidy: Pack up any building materials that might be lying around.
Maintain grass: Cut your grass and keep it short throughout the warmer months.
Remove anything that can attract vermin: This includes any pet food left outside. Snakes will come looking for vermin.
Keep small pets inside: Snakes can target small animals so keep them inside or secure them so that snakes can't get into their enclosures.
Keep doors shut: This will help them stay outside and not enter your home.
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