Male snake caught on camera lovingly embracing female snake's corpse

A man came across a gruesome sight in Arnhem Land in northern Australia – two snakes in what would have been a loving embrace, except one had died.

Gordon Canning was out walking in the area, teaching children about reptiles, when the group came across two snakes entwined in the middle of a road.

As they got closer, they realised the female snake had been killed by a car and her eggs had spilled onto the road.

"The video is of a road-killed keelback snake (Tropidonophis mairii) and a live male keelback," Canning told Storyful.

"Our group looks for reptiles to develop an appreciation, interest and awareness of their role in the environment, and to develop safe and protective behaviour when dealing with snakes and other reptiles."

In the video, the children can be heard trying to identify the snake in an indigenous language.

The keelback snake, otherwise known as the freshwater snake, is a species of nonvenomous snake found throughout Northern Australia.

The snakes mainly feed on small lizards and amphibians and they are able to eat cane toads – which are highly poisonous to most animals if ingested – without being harmed.