Red-bellied black snakes captured on video wrestling for female during breeding season on Mid-North Coast

A Mid-North Coast nature lover has captured a “mesmerising” video of two big snakes tangled up in a fiery wrestling match. Take a look and see what an expert had to say.

Nature lover Karin Hocking has had her fair share of snake encounters on the Mid-North Coast, but this one was so mesmerising she just had to capture it on video.

The Old Bar resident was out for a walk in the coastal town near Taree when she was stopped in her tracks by two venomous red-bellied black snakes tangled up in a wrestling match.

“I was actually calm compared to other sightings and encounters I’ve had in the past – I was just amazed at what I was seeing,” Ms Hocking said.

The snakes were filmed at Old Bar on the Mid-North Coast.

“It certainly was amazing. They were huge.”

A self-confessed “nature person”, Ms Hocking said she felt privileged to come across such a rare sight and shared the video on social media a few weeks later.

Ms Hocking only regrets she didn’t have a proper camera with her and instead had to rely on her mobile phone to film the unusual reptile encounter.

The snakes were tussling for a female, an expert says.

“It was kind of mesmerising,” she said.

“I would have loved to see the outcome, but they just kept at it so I went home.”

Jayden Patterson from Taree’s Reptile Relocation said the footage showed two male snakes battling it out as breeding season heats up across the region.

“They are two mature males combating for a nearby female for breeding rights – these two are not mating,” he said.

The snakes captured in the video.

Mr Patterson confirmed the pair in the video were red-bellied black snakes – his favourite species.

He said those caught on camera by Ms Hocking were particularly “beautiful specimens”.

But he warned the snakes “are highly venomous and capable of a serious bite if handled or harassed”.

Red-bellied black snakes are one of the most frequently encountered snakes on the East Coast and are responsible for a number of bites every year, the Australian Museum states.

A breeding ball of pythons at Wauchope, photographed in October 2023. Picture: Kayle Wilson.

Snakes display a range of spectacular breeding behaviour – pythons create large ‘breeding balls’, for example.

The incredible phenomenon was caught on camera by Wauchope’s Kayla Wilson in October last year, as reported by this publication.

Mr Patterson said at the time he was confident the pictured “breeding ball” was not just “two blokes punching on to see who gets to breed with the female”.

The behaviour is not exclusive to snakes: Toads, bees and wasps huddle together in similar ways.

Karin Hocking was mesmerised by the two red-bellied black snakes wrestling.

Ms Hocking spent about three decades living in rural northern Queensland, surrounded by sugarcane fields.

She said she has had a number of heart-stopping close calls riding her bike to work at one of the local farms.

“I lived in a little rural place called Giru, with a population of approximately 300, and many a snake was to be seen,” she said.

Once she ditched her bike and ran when she came across a huge brown snake.

“Then there was the time I was running late and was riding very fast when a huge black snake was across the path – well my feet went in the air as I rode over him, heart pumping.”

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Originally published as Red-bellied black snakes captured on video wrestling for female during breeding season on Mid-North Coast