by A massive five-metre-long snake has been filmed ᴅᴇᴠᴏᴜʀɪɴɢ a lifeless kangaroo whole – just metres from a campsite where people were on holiday. The incident happened at a family caravan park in Cooktown, far north Queensland.
In this ᴀsᴛᴏɴɪsʜɪɴɢ footage, the 17-foot snake – which appears to be an amethystine python, Australia’s largest species of snake- is first seen sᴡᴀʟʟᴏᴡɪɴɢ the last of a helpless marsupial.
The ravenous reptile can be seen unhinging its jaw in different parts to fit the massive marsupial meal in its mouth. With only the hooves and tail left to be ᴅᴇᴠᴏᴜʀᴇᴅ, the python visibly sʟɪᴛʜᴇʀs its body over the ᴄᴀʀᴄᴀss to finish the dish.
Slowly but surely, the snake – known as a morelia kinghorni – keeps ᴇᴀᴛɪɴɢ until its meal has entirely ᴅɪsᴀᴘᴘᴇᴀʀᴇᴅ. The kangaroo can be seen protruding from its ᴋɪʟʟᴇʀ’s scaly stomach.
Helen Smart filmed the fascinating feast and the snake’s subsequently slow ᴇsᴄᴀᴘᴇ while holidaying with her husband and three other couples at the end of January 2016.
Helen Smart can be heard saying in video. “And I’m whispering because you can see it’s ᴇᴀᴛɪɴɢ a kangaroo. Oh my god, it’s so big, it’s humongous… poor little kangaroo.”
Helen said: “My husband walked around the back of our caravan and almost ꜰᴇʟʟ over the python – we had no idea it was there up until that point. He shouted at us all to come and see and it had this poor kangaroo in a ᴄᴏɴsᴛʀɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ. We were fascinated so I started filming when it was actually ᴇᴀᴛɪɴɢ its ᴋɪʟʟ.”
Helen also said she felt lucky that the reptile didn’t care about her because it had its delicious meal. While digesting the food, the python moved very slowly, barely moving, but it returned to the bushes to hide in safety, waiting for its next ᴘʀᴇʏ.
Amethystine pythons are Australia’s largest snake with the average length of one being about five metres, however the largest on record was an incredible eight metres long, according to Queensland’s Department of Environment.
