Deadly Snake Strikes Skink, Gets A 'Good Thrashing' [Video]

Video of an adult eastern blue-tongued skink and a young eastern brown snake battling it out has gone viral on social media.

In the video, posted on Facebook by Snake Catchers Northern Rivers 24/7, the highly venomous reptile strikes the lizard's hard armor before returning to its strike position. Just when the snake attempts to strike again, the skink grabs its entire head. The snake, however, manages to escape from its jaws and slithers away after a "good thrashing."

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A snakecatcher arrived at the scene to relocate the wounded snake.

"While the Blue Tongue Skink has tough back and head that will stop the small fangs of the Brown Snake, the belly and armpits are soft spots. So as you will see the Skink notices the threatening posture displayed by the Snake and flattens it's body out in the face of danger!! It's does this to protect those softer regions and give the Snake something much bigger and awkward to manage!!" snake catcher Jack Hogan wrote in the Facebook post.

Speaking about the snake's posture before striking, the snake catcher said, "It is hard to tell whether the Snake is seeing the Lizard as a possible meal or if it believes it to be a threat, but the manner in which it was searching the Skink’s burrow leans it toward potential prey."

Kris Krosser, who had filmed the video, commented that the reptiles had clashed two times before he filmed them.

"The brown was very determined to get the bluey they clashed at least two times before I filmed the video with the blue tongue getting the best of the brown. The brown would leave for a couple of minutes then come back looking for the blue tongue. I was surprised that each time the brown came back the blue tongue would come all the way out of its hole," he wrote.

The video has since gone viral with people praising the skink for its defensive skills.

"What an amazing defense from the blue tongue.... Yeah not today mr Brown!" one person commented. "Wow that is incredible from the blue tongue skink," wrote another person.