by The extraordinary moment a three-metre long python feasted on a large white cockatoo has been captured in Far North Queensland.
Cairns local Gary Montagner snapped the snake hanging from guttering of his house in Mooroobool as it widened its jaw in order to slowly digest the bird.
“Nature’s circle of life caught on camera!” posted Montagner, who added that nearby squawking cockatoos that can be heard in the background of the video were “distressed” and remained in the trees, too sᴄᴀʀᴇᴅ to venture near the reptile.
These amazing pictures show the moments a python captures a sulphur-crested cockatoo, sǫᴜᴇᴇᴢᴇs it slowly to ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ and ᴇᴀᴛs it whole.
The python’s upper neck can be seen bulging as it begins to ᴅᴇᴠᴏᴜʀs what appears to be a sulphur-crested cockatoo, a process which Montagner said took two hours.
Certain species of python have been known to ᴇᴀᴛ animals the size of wallabies in this part of Australia. The most common in the Cairns region is the Amethystine python, a non-venomous variety that can grow to a size of between 5 and 8.5 metres and lives on birds and small mammals.
“A neighbour of ours had her cat taken by a python,” said Montanger. “We have small dogs but the snakes don’t seem to go for the dogs so much.”
“We like animals,” said Montagner. “We don’t want the python ᴋɪʟʟᴇᴅ or removed, it’s just part of nature up here.”
A similar incident in Cairns, Queensland, Australia was reported by artist Cindy Lane while painting in her studio.
Ms Lane was painting in her studio when she heard a “couple of loud squawks” coming from the bougainvillea tree in her backyard. She found the python coiling itself tightly around the bird high in the tree’s branches. “I considered jumping in to sᴀᴠᴇ him, but his last breath was literally being sǫᴜᴇᴇᴢᴇᴅ from him as we approached,” she said.
The python took about two hours to complete his meal after “one false start”. Ms Lane added: “It was difficult to watch but at the same time mesmerising.”
