LOCAL residents taking a Sunday walk near Mount Isa in Australia were shocked to see a snake battle with a crocodile before constricting it and eating it face-first.
The struggle was spotted at Lake Moondarra, where the 10ft snake, believed to be a python, coiled itself around the crocodile and wrestled it in the water. The snake later brought the dead crocodile onto land and ate it, with the outline of the croc still visible to onlookers.
Tiffany Corlis, a local author, told the BBC: "It was amazing. We saw the snake fighting with the crocodile – it would roll the crocodile around to get a better grip, and coil its body around the crocodile's legs to hold it tight."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The fight began in the lake, said Corlis, with the crocodile trying to hold its head out of the water, but the snake was constricting it.
"After the crocodile had died, the snake uncoiled itself, came around to the front, and started to eat the crocodile, face-first," she added.
The snake apparently took around 15 minutes to eat the crocodile, but another witness, Alyce Rosenthal, told the Brisbane Times that the two creatures fought for about five hours in total. "It's not something that you see every day," she said.
Listener Tiffany Corlis sent us this photo of a croc and snake doing battle at Lake Moondarra in #MountIsa pic.twitter.com/qViRPqJqta — Elly Bradfield (@AGirlNamedElly) March 2, 2014
Pythons constrict their prey in order to suffocate them or cause heart failure, and many snakes have flexible jaws, enabling them to swallow animals many times their own body size.
Snake expert Bryan Fry, from the University of Queensland's School of Biological Science, said the feast would keep the reptile satisfied for about a month, adding that the longer it takes to digest, the longer it is without a means of defending itself.
"Now it might go and find a hollow in the mud and tuck itself away for a while," he said.
Fry added that while water pythons usually target smaller animals and rodents, small fresh water crocodiles are easy prey. "Crocs are more dangerous to catch but easier to sneak up on," he said.
-
‘No Other Choice,’ ‘Dead Man’s Wire,’ and ‘Father Mother Sister Brother’Feature A victim of downsizing turns murderous, an angry Indiana man takes a lender hostage, and a portrait of family by way of three awkward gatherings
-
Political cartoons for January 11Cartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include green energy, a simple plan, and more
-
The launch of the world’s first weight-loss pillSpeed Read Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have been racing to release the first GLP-1 pill
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
-
Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned
-
Nigeria confused by Trump invasion threatSpeed Read Trump has claimed the country is persecuting Christians
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
