Snakes Alive!

The southern African rock python is a big snake. In fact, with its potential length of over six metres, it’s one of the largest snakes in the world. So just imagine Earth-Touch cameraman Jason Loughran’s reaction when he stumbled across not one, but two of these massive snakes in just one day. And that’s not all folks: both pythons were in the midst of ingesting impala lambs!

Although it’s not a pleasant sight if you happen to suffer from herpetophobia, it’s unlikely that these beautiful snakes would add humans to their menu (in recent history, there’s only been a handful of recorded incidents of snake attacks on human beings). Adult pythons prefer to feast on animals like gazelles (like the unfortunate impala above) or warthogs (but they certainly have the girth to gobble up a person if so inclined).

It’s no small task for a python to swallow large prey such as antelope. After literally squeezing the life out of their victim, the snake must dislocate its jaws to create a large enough cavity to swallow the impala whole. Yum.

The swallowing process can take some time as a series of slow, rhythmic muscular contractions pull the prey down the snake’s throat and into its stomach. A special tube at the bottom of the throat remains positioned in a way that allows the snake to breathe during this leisurely ingestion.

To see the action in motion, check out the video on YouTube.

Eating big prey comes with its own dangers if the python cannot find a safe place to reap the rewards of its hard-earned meal. After ingesting their prey pythons become very sluggish and are vulnerable to attack from an array of predators including baboons and leopards. If they fail to find a secure spot to digest their meal, they may end up like the unfortunate reptile below.