Royally ducked: Incredible moment a massive python devours an entire bird for lunch
- A snake catcher has discovered three-metre carpet python eating a duck
- Stuart McKenzie said Pythons can swallow prey five times the size of their head
- Mr McKenzie warned that although uncommon small cats and dogs can be at risk
A snake catcher has captured the moment a massive carpet python got its jaws around a helpless duck.
Stuart McKenzie, from Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers, uploaded the image of the ravenous python to its Facebook page attracting hundreds of comments.
Mr McKenzie said he was called out to a house in the town of Caloundra, south of the Sunshine Coast, where he saw the huge snake tucking into its lunch.
A snake catcher has captured the moment a massive carpet python got its jaws around a helpless duck
'It physically restrains it, squeezes the animal and every time it breathes out it squeezes harder until its dead,' he said.
'This is one of the largest Pythons I have ever seen and would have been around the three meter mark and the duck was the size of a full grown cat and he ate it easily.'
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Mr McKenzie warned that snakes consuming animals the size of a duck isn't unusual and warns that dogs and cats are also at risk of being eaten by the reptiles.
'It happens rarely but it can occur. They regularly feast on chickens and birds so please make sure your pet's enclosures are snake proof,' he said.
Many people were sad to see the image posted to Facebook, but other said they were not surprised
'Nearly every week in spring we see one (snake) break into a chicken coup and eat a bunch of chickens - its almost a daily occurrence.'
Many of the comments were saddened by the sight of the duck being consumed while other were not surprised.
'Nature can be so sad,' one woman wrote.
One woman posted an image of a snake inside an enclosure and said she had a similar experience with a large snake who ate a duck
'It's amazing how wide they can stretch those jaws to eat something so big,' one man wrote.
Mr McKenzie wasn't as surprised and said most carpet pythons can open they jaws to accommodate prey up to five-times the size of their head.
One woman posted an image of a snake inside an enclosure and said she had a similar experience with a large snake.
'This big beauty had a feast on one of our large ducks,' she wrote.
