Snake Eats Croc

Tomahawk Fox · #1 ● 03-03-2014, 08:08 AM

Snake eats crocodile after epic fight in Queensland

March 03, 2014

An enormous water python has devoured a metre-long fresh water crocodile following an epic duel that shocked onlookers at Lake Moondarra, near Mount Isa, on Sunday.

And that's not uncommon, according to University of Queensland snake expert Bryan Fry.

Mount Isa mother Tiffany Corlis captured the contest on camera, taking a series of shots that documented the huge snake’s assault on the croc.

She was near the lake having breakfast when canoeists, who witnessed the battle playing out, alerted her to the struggle between the snake and crocodile.

By the time Ms Corlis started watching, the snake had already coiled its body around the crocodile and was beginning to strangle it.

‘‘[The crocodile] was fighting at the start, so it was trying to keep its head out of water and survive,’’ she told ABC North West Queensland Radio on Monday.

‘‘But as the morning sort of progressed, you could tell that both of them were getting a little weaker.

‘‘Finally, the croc sort of gave in and the snake had uncoiled for a little while and had a brief break and then actually started to consume the crocodile.’’

Snake expert Associate Professor Bryan Fry, from the University of Queensland’s School of Biological Science, said while water pythons usually targeted smaller animals and rodents, small fresh water crocodiles were easy prey.

‘‘Crocs are more dangerous to catch but easier to sneak up on,’’ he said.

‘‘Up in Kakadu, for example, they feed heavily on small rodents but that’s not to say they won’t take the crocs as well.

‘‘The problem is they are risking being injured or killed, so they have to be judicious.’’

Associate Professor Fry said for a water python to successfully overpower and then devour a small crocodile, a lot more time was required than for smaller animals, which left the pythons vulnerable to attack.

Another witness Alyce Rosenthal said the battle probably lasted about five hours. By the time she arrived, the two combatants were at the point of exhaustion.

‘‘They were just pretty much laying there, waiting to die I would assume,’’ she told Fairfax Media on Monday.

‘‘It’s not something that you see every day.

‘‘I’m almost tempted to go for a drive and see if he’s still laying there.

Associate Professor Fry said the feast would keep the reptile satisfied for about a month.

‘‘The longer it takes to swallow, the longer it is without a means of defending itself,’’ he said

‘‘Now it might go and find a hollow in the mud and tuck itself away for a while.’’

Ms Corlis said it was amazing to witness.

‘‘It was just unbelievable," she said.

‘‘We were sort of thinking that the snake had bitten off a little more than it could chew.

‘‘But it did. It actually ate the crocodile.

‘‘The aftermath showed the overstuffed snake lying still, where presumably it stayed for some time as it digested its dinner.

‘‘When you actually looked at the snake, you could actually see the crocodile’s ridges, legs and everything inside its belly.’’

For many people, the picture of the monster reptile at the popular Mount Isa swimming hole may lead them to question the long held belief taking a dip in the Top End’s fresh water was safe.

‘‘You can go to places up in Kakadu that are legendary spots for these type of snakes, there can be as many as 40 of them in one water hole,’’ Associate Professor Fry said.