A spotted bush snake ambushes and delivers a fatal blow to a frog twice the size of the snake’s head. The frog fights for its life in the snake’s jaws while the snake tries to swallow it whole.
26-year-old field guide Frank De Beer witnessed this bizarre scene as it unfolded. He shared his sighting with the Latest Sightings:
“While walking around the confines of the Simbavati Hilltop Lodge in the Timbavati private game reserve, I heard a high-pitched sound. I’ve never heard anything like it before.”
“I grabbed my camcorder and looked for the culprit behind this sound. Searching the bushes around the lodge from where the sound was emanating, I was anxious as I did not know what I was looking for, nor what I would find.”
“The only certainty I had is that something is being attacked and killed. What could it be? That is when I came across this incredible scene of a spotted bush snake with a large foam nest frog clasped tightly in its jaws!”
Spotted bush snakes are harmless snakes that prey on frogs and geckos. These bright green snakes, which can be found throughout most of South Africa, are excellent climbers. This gives them an advantage when hunting tree dwelling prey such as tree frogs and lizards.
“I watched in awe as the frog struggled and fought for its life a few feet away from me. Even though this particular frog was relatively large, I was astounded by how easily this small snake ended the life of this frog.”
“The snake began moving off into the thickets to enjoy this well-deserved meal. After killing the frog, the snake proceeded to swallow the frog whole and digest his large meal in the confines of some thick shrubbery.”
Smaller snakes, such as this spotted bush snake, do not need to eat every day. A meal of this size could satisfy this snake for close to a week. While larger snakes need to eat only once a week, smaller snakes may need to eat twice a week. This all varies according to the size of the prey that the snake has eaten.
“Even though I get to witness the wonders of African nature daily, even for me, seeing a snake catch and eat a frog is something rare, and I consider myself truly lucky.”
The snake attacked and swallowed a frog in just two minutes, despite the fact that the prey was quite large for the size of its mouth.
Spectacular capture of the green snake was recorded in a forest near El Arenal volcano, in Costa Rica.
When detecting the frog moving, the snake began to crawl and quickly opened its mouth to attack.
Although frogs are larger than the width of a snake’s body and their legs are also quite long, the attacker can still swallow the prey whole without difficulty.
When the snake swallowed the head, the frog could no longer escape, despite trying to struggle.
After almost swallowing the prey, the snake immediately slithered away.
According to researchers, this quick-catching snake is a non-venomous snake with the scientific name Drymobius melanotropis.
In the wild, frogs are often a favorite food for snakes. However, for the green tree frog, the opposite is true.
Green tree frogs can “meat” even poisonous snakes that are terrifying to humans.
Green tree frogs are known to be the most “scandal” animals in the amphibian kingdom. They often make headlines when performing kung fu, sometimes lifting weights, other times shocking when they dare to put their heads on top of giant green snakes.
However, few people know how scary the green tree frog is. In fact, in Australia, many people were scared to “green eyes” when witnessing green frogs eating snakes deliciously.
Not just ordinary snakes, this ferocious green tree frog can “meat” even poisonous snakes that terrify humans.
The skin of this dangerous green tree frog contains a toxin that can paralyze its prey, making it easier for it to hunt and digest its prey.
It doesn’t matter which prey, common snake or venomous snake, green tree frog can devour a prey up to 5 times their size, it’s just a matter of time.
All this proves one thing, nothing is impossible, the seemingly harmless green tree frog turns out to be a very stealthy animal killer.
After digesting the small snake, if it still doesn’t feel good, the green tree frog is ready for dessert with a bat.
