A dangerous tiger snake suns itself on some reeds in Australia and starts swimming through a lake when three ducks gang up on it.

The clip shows three ducks chasing the snake until it is clear of their area in Herdsman Lake.

“Suddenly three pacific black ducks arrived, and disturbed the snake, which turned around and began swimming rapidly along the bank with the three ducks closely shadowing it,” said avid wildlife watcher Bob Humphries.

“It then made a break and swam rapidly back to its reed bed refuge, pursued by the ducks who only stopped following the tiger snake when it had disappeared from their view,” he continued.

Tiger snakes are so venomous that the untreated mortality rate for bites in humans is 40-60 percent.

The Western Tiger Snake (Notechis scutatus occidentalis) is a dangerously venomous Australian snake that is usually found close to wetlands and other aquatic habitats. Tiger Snakes mainly eat frogs and some reptiles. This Tiger Snake was sunning itself on reeds in Herdsman Lake, near Perth in Western Australia. It entered the water and swam across a few metres of open water and began to hunt along the bank of a small island. Suddenly three Pacific Black Ducks arrived, and disturbed the snake, which turned around and began swimming rapidly along the bank with the three ducks closely shadowing it. It then made a break and swam rapidly back to its reed bed refuge, pursued by the ducks who only stopped following the Tiger Snake when it had disappeared from their view. The snake then climbed into the reeds, panting from its exertions, to sun itself. A Eurasian Coot arrived holding its wings partly up, clearly agitated by the snake which it then drove from its sight into the reeds before swimming off.