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Spider ensnares deadly snake in unlikely war

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A mother-of-three who captured a deadly snake trying to free itself from a redback spider’s web in her shed has been contacted by media from the United States, enthralled by the deadly creature’s struggle.

Jamii-Leigh Marwick was at the back of her home in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, on Sunday afternoon when she heard her four-year-old son Eamon, screaming about a snake.

“He was screaming excitedly that there was a snake coming in the back shed,” Ms Marwick told ABC Goldfields-Esperance.

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“At this point I didn’t know whether it was loose, or what the go was.

“So I was trying to get him back, but he wasn’t listening; he clearly knew what the go was.”

The toddler had found the brown snake caught in the web of the female redback, gamely attempting to fight its way out.

Ms Marwick said her initial reaction was relief that the snake was not running loose, but she was quick to send her children to grab her phone.

“[Eamon] knows not to go near snakes and spiders and things,” she said.

“He’s got a healthy fear of them, but he’s still excited by them.

“He named [the snake] Fred while he was sitting there watching it.”

Snake, spider battle ‘everyone’s worst fears rolled into one’

After capturing the unique scene on video, Ms Marwick attempted to rescue the snake from the web, not yet knowing the reptile was a venomous gwardar, or Western Brown Snake.

Attempting to hold up a coffee jar to move the snake into, she was startled by one of its quick movements, and accidentally dropped the jar on the snake’s head.

“I failed, epically,” Ms Marwick said.

Since Ms Marwick posted the video on Sunday it has been shared online.

She has fielded calls from reporters as far away as the United States, as footage of the dangerous creatures’ battle spreads.

“It’s a bit crazy, it’s just a little snake video,” she said.

“Everyone’s worst fears rolled into one, I guess.”

–ABC

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