by Armed with Dᴇᴀᴅʟʏ ᴠᴇɴᴏᴍ capable of ᴋɪʟʟɪɴɢ humans, the boomslang snake is a feared ᴘʀᴇᴅᴀᴛᴏʀ in the wild. But the tables were well and truly turned when this unsuspecting reptile was ᴀᴍʙᴜsʜᴇᴅ by a mongoose.
This ᴠᴇɴᴏᴍ snake was resting in a tree in Namibia’s Etosha National Park when the mongoose crept up and went in for the ᴋɪʟʟ. After climbing the tree, the mongoose clambered onto the snake and edged closer and closer to the serpent’s head.
The snake tries to run away from the mongoose’s chase. However, not long after that, the mongoose approached, took a bite and stuck its teeth in the poor snake making it unable to continue moving.
The images were taken by Elana Erasmus, from Pretoria in South Africa. Elana, 48, was on a guided safari at the game reserve in Nambia when she saw the ᴇɴᴄᴏᴜɴᴛᴇʀ about to unfold.
She said: “We were on our way back to camp after the morning’s photography session when our guide spotted a slender mongoose ꜰɪɢʜᴛɪɴɢ a boomslang in a tree next to the road. We realized immediately that this was a very special sighting.”
“Our cameras were already tucked away in their dust covers and we were frantically trying to get our equipment out and ready. The mongoose would pursue the boomslang, continuously biting it on its head while the boomslang tried in vain to get away from its ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋᴇʀ.”
She added: “At times, the boomslang would curl itself around the slender mongoose in an attempt to defend itself or possibly to ᴋɪʟʟ it with ᴠᴇɴᴏᴍ. But it was very clear that the slender mongoose was the ᴘʀᴇᴅᴀᴛᴏʀ and that this time, the snake was the ᴘʀᴇʏ.”
“A few times the mongoose would fall out of the tree just to clamber back to continue its relentless ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋ on the boomslang. After a while, the boomslang looked ᴇxʜᴀᴜsᴛᴇᴅ and worst for wear. It was clear that the mongoose had the upper hand.”
