And the bush has friends to meet him, and their kindly voices greet him, In the murmur of the breezes and the river on its bars,
And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended, And at night the wonderous glory of the everlasting stars.

Banjo Paterson (1889)

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Python Swallows Large Monitor

We know that snakes such as pythons can distend their jaws to swallow large prey, but this Black-headed Python really wanted to see how far it could go with this Yellow-spotted Monitor. These pictures were taken at a northern minesite in Western Australia during a survey a little while ago.

Good to see the workers pegged off the road area till the python had finished it's meal and was on it's way. That meal should keep him (or her) going for a few months!



























After 5 hours, all finished!

11 comments:

John Malloy said...

Amazing sequence of photos'!

Maya said...

All I can say is wow!!!

Thomas Vattakaven said...

Wow, nice sequence. I wouldnt have had the patience to hang around for 5 hours till it was done. well done.

Rob Ward said...

Absolutely fascinating photographs! Great find and I bet that was something special to witness also, even the process did take 5 hrs!

WilloW said...

Excellent sequence and wonderful that workers pegged the area to keep the snake safe while it dined. Hood to see people looking at these events with the interest of the animal in mind

Anonymous said...

They are amazing photos! Did the python have to wait for some time after the 5 hours before it could move away?

Heather said...

How incredible - thanks for sharing that! My mind is on the same track as lynd's: I would imagine the snake couldn't move very well for some time whilst having a whole lizard inside itself to carry around.

Wilma said...

Reminds me of those little tiny gloves that can stretch to fit adult hands! Terrific series of photos to document this amazing 5 hour long "meal of monitor"!

cheers,
Wilma

Richard King said...

It wasn't far for the snake to get off the road and disappear, but yes I think it would be moving slowly for a while. It will probably find a nice safe quiet place to digest for at least a few days.

Tom Arbour said...

This is an amazing series. Thank you for sharing- your blog is bound to get me back to Australia (last there in '99) sooner than later.

Tom

Stuart Price said...

That's an amazing spectacle.