The scary images were taken by a kayaker when he was exploring a marsh in Queensland, Aᴜsᴛʀᴀʟɪᴀ.
Kayaker Martin Muller recently visited Queensland’s Mount Isa and came upon a horrifying sight: an olive python devouring an Aᴜsᴛʀᴀʟɪᴀn freshwater crocodile that it had just strangled to ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ. Muller naturally reached for his camera and began taking pictures.
The snake is seen around the helpless crocodile in the photos, which were published online by the Aᴜsᴛʀᴀʟɪᴀn nonprofit organization GG Wildlife Rescue Inc. When viewers look ᴄʟᴏsᴇly, they can see the crocodile’s spiked tail sticking out of the python’s mouth in a few shots when it looks to have entirely disappeared into the snake’s throat. Images of the post-meal engorged python, with its body expanded to fit the crocodile’s body, are among the other ғʀɪɢʜᴛᴇɴing sᴄᴇɴᴇs.
According to Live Science’s Stephanie Pappas, pythons aren’t exactly renowned for having sophisticated tastes. The snakes are determined predators and have been observed eating a variety of prey, including deer, impalas, porcupines, pigeons, goats, other pythons, and even humans.
Contrary to common perception, pythons do not remove their jaws to devour large prey. In contrast, snakes use two lower jaws that move independently of one another but are joined by an elastic ligament, according to Corey Binns in a different Live Science piece. A python contracts its muscles to simultaneously constrict and consume prey once its stretched jaws have wrapped themselves around a victim.
Digestion is the last stage of the python’s feast. The animals are known to change their metabolism after eating, expanding the size of internal organs like the intestines, heart, and pancreas to handle the rush of calories. Snakes excrete body parts like scales and teeth that are rich in keratin and enamel even if they eat all of the bones, flesh, and organs of their prey.
