Interlude with a Red-belied Black Snake
 

I shot this a couple of months ago up in the Barmah Forest on the NSW/Victoira border.

The Red-bellied Black Snake Pseudechis porphyriacus is found through much of south-eastern Australia especially in well watered areas where it's main diet is frogs.

YouTube - Red-bellied Black Snake

Although they are dangerous if you get bitten by one, they are very shy and retiring and reluctant to bite. They are really one of the beautiful sites of the Australian bush.

This was shot on a Canon XHA1s and edited in FCP.

Any criticisms or comments welcomed.

cheers

Greg

Hi Greg,

I have spent a bit of time watching red-bellied blacksnakes and found that they use some interesting feeding strategies. One strategy involved swishing from end of a riverside pool to the other thereby scaring small critters into rock crevices at the pool’s edge. Next this snake systematically worked its head into the crevices. I saw it extract and swallow a small fish. The session ended when the snake popped its head up from and took a deep breath right in front of my face. Although my head said don’t move you are not going to be killed by a blacksnake, my feet propelled me backwards and the snake disappeared very quickly. It would have made a great sequence but I did not have a camcorder at that stage.

Wow, that would have been great to see. Unfortunately I only had limited time with this snake. Would love to find somewhere nice and open where I could observe and film them easily from a distance without disturbing them.

They really are an icon of the Australian bush and to see one basking on a bank, glistening in the sun with its bright red sides is a sight to behold.

I hope I can see some more this summer, but I have to travel well out of melbourne to find them.

cheers
Greg

Excellent material. Great low angles and good pauses in the snakes movement. These snakes must be quite bold to let you get into these positions. Great work!

Great footage.... I would love to see it at higher res.

Well done. Looks good but would be better at higher resolution.

Kent