# Cornered Tiger Snake



## Vikingtimbo (May 26, 2013)

Yep, turns out cornering a snake is a bad idea, who'd have guessed?

Cornered Bitey TIGER SNAKE - YouTube


I'm still seeing Tigers in Suburban Melbourne but pretty soon they'll be in hiding for about three months. I shot this video yesterday (25 May) when it was around 18 C. The snake is a fairly large heavy one that knows he'll always have trouble hiding or fleeing, and being cornered in cool temperatures he had no choice but to stand his ground. I rarely touch snakes and never handle them or constrain their movement so of the literally hundreds of Tiger encounters I've had there have only been a couple of times where I've really felt in danger. Despite their reputation they aren't aggressive at all, or even defensive usually. But they've all got different personalities and this guy made for a pretty exciting herping experience!

Cheers,
Tim


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## Shotta (May 26, 2013)

lol when it struck at him it nearly made me fall out of my chair lol!! scared the crap outta me, nice vid though


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## Cockney_Red (May 26, 2013)

Seconds before he struck, you could see him eyeing fight or flight...lol


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## Bluetongue1 (May 27, 2013)

18[SUP]o[/SUP]C - just goes to show how cold tolerant Tigers really are.

Possibly the difference between still being cold and right next to an escape route versus being warmed up and further away. It wasted no time in trying to escape after the strike. It could also be that the second time around the snake initially thought it was camouflaged. Reckon that the strike was simply designed to put off the potential threat in order to buy itself some more time in which to get into cover.

It gave all the warning signs that Tigers do. Turned to face the threat. Spread the hood on the neck. Tensed the muscles at the front of the body and spread the hood even more and lifted the head and neck off the ground. Basically angling the head end at the potential threat to make itself look as large as possible. That’s why you get that swaying motion. Then drawing up the front end of the body into a loop. This also involved moving the head forward, which did not deter the threat, then looping it back. It is then capable of striking. It began to move up off the ground prior to striking. You don’t always get that warning, particularly in warmer weather. 

Blue


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## Paintbrushturkey (May 27, 2013)

He told you so, as best as he could... I think he was still quite tolerant, getting you get very close and warning for a long time before becomming "active", nice vid though, love the moment where he slips into the crack and forgets about the rest of him hanging out


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## Bluetongue1 (May 27, 2013)

*Paintbrushturkey*, I think you’ll find that the reason the snake stopped when two-thirds in was because the front end ran into a dead end and it had to change direction to escape fully. They definitely do seem to know if part of them is hanging out and not under cover. 

You are on the money with “he told you so” and the warning signs. It's a great little video that people can learn some valuable Tiger Snake behaviours from. Well done.


Blue


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## JM1982 (May 27, 2013)

What a beauty 
Talk about spring loaded! And thats in winter, Imagine it after being in the sun on a hot day!


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## imported_Varanus (May 27, 2013)

Like the rest of us, he dosen't take to kindly to persistant stalkers or the paparazzi, especially when the weather's good.

Forgot to say nice vid BTW!


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## Vikingtimbo (May 27, 2013)

Bluetongue1 said:


> 18[SUP]o[/SUP]C - just goes to show how cold tolerant Tigers really are.




When I'm out herping I keep really close tabs on the temps these days, using the Bureau of Meteorology's website on my smartphone. For most of the year 18C is the magic number for Tigers around here, it's when they come out. At the very beginning and end of the snake season they're more cold tolerant and can be seen around 16 C or even a little under!




Bluetongue1 said:


> Possibly the difference between still being cold and right next to an escape route versus being warmed up and further away. It wasted no time in trying to escape after the strike. It could also be that the second time around the snake initially thought it was camouflaged. Reckon that the strike was simply designed to put off the potential threat in order to buy itself some more time in which to get into cover.
> 
> It





Bluetongue1 said:


> gave all the warning signs that Tigers do. Turned to face the threat. Spread the hood on the neck. Tensed the muscles at the front of the body and spread the hood even more and lifted the head and neck off the ground. Basically angling the head end at the potential threat to make itself look as large as possible. That’s why you get that swaying motion. Then drawing up the front end of the body into a loop. This also involved moving the head forward, which did not deter the threat, then looping it back. It is then capable of striking. It began to move up off the ground prior to striking. You don’t always get that warning, particularly in warmer weather.
> 
> Blue




I think most of what you said is right on the money. The one thing that really surprised me is that he didn't give me more warning - that's usually all they do, give HEAPS of warning. What's worrying is that the whole scenario could actually have played out without my even being aware I was standing next to a snake. But as I said, this snake and the circumstances were REALLY unusual. As some here will know, I stepped on a Tiger in mid december and wasn't attacked or even threatened. Many times I've had my hands, feet and even face within inches of them without feeling I was in danger.

The snake couldn't just try to escape without leaving itself vulnerable so he bought himself some time by trying to scare/kill me! As soon as I backed off a little he made a break for it. Two days earlier I filmed an almost identical video (at around 16 C actually) with a first encounter where the snake just hooded up and fled to his den, and a second where he was more cornered and defensive. In this case he was only "half-cornered" in that he had a free run to reach his den but had to go right past me to get there. So that time he just gave me a stern warning, with no danger of my having to cash in on the ambulance subscription I took out at the start of the snake season 

Big Grumpy TIGER SNAKE - YouTube

It's funny that he didn't go all the way into his den but I find that happens surprisingly often. When they're really distressed like that they flatten their whole body to some degree which ironically makes travelling awkward for them, and they tend to only travel very short distances and stop regularly, perhaps to reassess the situation. Here's another example of that - the second snake in this next video (actually a large female I think) wasn't cornered, just startled at close quarters:

Startled TIGER SNAKES - YouTube

But all Tiger Snakes are different. I've come across some that almost ignore me even when my face is less than a foot from theirs, and I was even happy to let one bold snake wander between my feet while it was searching for frogs. This next snake is really unusual in that it made little attempt to flee but just kept "barking" at me and lunging, mostly in the wrong direction, and never hooded up:

TIGER SNAKES Don't Want to Bite (Pt.1) - YouTube

Cheers,
Tim


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## silent36 (May 27, 2013)

Nilesh said:


> lol when it struck at him it nearly made me fall out of my chair lol!! scared the crap outta me, nice vid though




HAHA me to


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## sharky (May 27, 2013)

silent36 said:


> HAHA me to



Make that 3


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## B_STATS (May 27, 2013)

Was that necessary?


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## Vikingtimbo (May 27, 2013)

B_STATS said:


> Was that necessary?



You mean cornering a snake? Well it was really just a situation I found myself in. But I don't think it was really that distressing or unusual for the snake. Tiger Snakes are constantly feeling threatened and are often attacked or harassed by other animals.

But snakes certainly deserve to be treated with far more respect than they're usually given. One of the main points I've made in my posts here is that this snake's behaviour is kind of "the exception that proves the rule", that snakes are in fact far less of a threat than many people think, and in general should just be left alone, unharmed.

Cheers,
Tim


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## Paintbrushturkey (May 28, 2013)

Vikingtimbo said:


> You mean cornering a snake? Well it was really just a situation I found myself in. But I don't think it was really that distressing or unusual for the snake. Tiger Snakes are constantly feeling threatened and are often attacked or harassed by other animals.
> 
> But snakes certainly deserve to be treated with far more respect than they're usually given. One of the main points I've made in my posts here is that this snake's behaviour is kind of "the exception that proves the rule", that snakes are in fact far less of a threat than many people think, and in general should just be left alone, unharmed.
> 
> ...



I don't think anyone is trying to blame you here time, it's a great vid and i don't think you caused the snake major stress (but possibly the opposite may be true ), but from the vid it looks like you are sort of weaving in and out of cover from the cactus you are standing behind, please correct me if i'm wrong but ducking in and out of cover whilst constantly keepeing an "eye" on your subject strikes as a very predatory thing to do, which in turn probably led to the snake being more insecure and thus defensive than it would have been if you had just been standing there or walking past...

@Bluetounge, I have no doubt it ran into spacial "difficulties" however at the start of the vid the same snake (at least it is the same snake) is shown to enter his hide in a single run, i simply thought it was interesting that it did not do so, as this left it in a rather precarious precision had time meant it harm (as all the "dangerous" parts were confined in his hide)


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## $NaKe PiMp (May 28, 2013)

i think your getting footage of tiger snakes is totally necasary ! such great snakes to come across.


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