Joe Kahlo
A lucky photographer managed to capture the incredible moment three ducks are escorting a deadly tiger snake away from their lake.
The venomous snake came from the shore and was swimming about in their lake.
Tim Kemp spotted the snake approaching floating vegetation where the ducks were sitting and prepared to see one of the ducks become the snake’s next meal.
To his surprise, the ducks instead ended up calmly escorting the snake back to dry land.
“As the minutes ticked by and there weren’t any feathers flying or wings splashing, I realised if the birds knew the snake was there, they didn’t care,” he said.
“I think the ducks knew they weren’t in any danger. None of them had a nest on the vegetation they were relaxing on. And they’re just too big for the tiger snake to fit in its gob.”
“Smaller birds and frogs would have been on the menu, had the snake been able to find them.”
Kemp was surprised at the sight of three ducks, from different species, coming together to shoo the snake out of their lake.
“The ducks weren’t any worse for wear. Several breeding pairs swam off together. I watched a male Shelduck showing off to a female. A number of swans and ibises came gliding in for a cleaning and relaxation session on the little green island,” he said.
“I walked back to my car, thinking about how a bunch of different species of birds worked together to guide that Tiger snake away from their hangout.”
