by The incredible moment a python sᴡᴀʟʟᴏᴡᴇᴅ a possum whole while dangling from a tree branch has been captured on camera by sʜᴏᴄᴋᴇᴅ onlookers.
The long diamond back python caught the Australian marsupial and ᴡʀᴀᴘᴘᴇᴅ its smooth body ᴛɪɢʜᴛʟʏ around it, sᴜꜰꜰᴏᴄᴀᴛɪɴɢ it, before beginning to ᴅᴇᴠᴏᴜʀ it from head to tail.
In the sʜᴏᴄᴋɪɴɢ footage, the large ring-tail possum remains lifeless in the hold of its ᴘʀᴇᴅᴀᴛᴏʀ as witnesses gasp in awe.
Pauline Gulleford watched the snake ᴅᴇᴠᴏᴜʀɪɴɢ the possum over an hour while at home in her Northern Beaches property in Sydney.
“Hopefully it was quick,” she says.
“This probably happens a lot around here and we’d never know,” a man replied.
Eyewitnesses to the incident questioned how large the snake was, as only half of the reptile’s body could be seen. Many people think that the snake is about 2 meters long and the snake looks much smaller than its prey.
“You’d think: “How on Earth does that huge possum get into that tight mouth”…that’s not a big snake,” said a woman watching.
Diamond Pythons are close relatives to the Carpet Python and are black with cream and yellow patterns. They can be mostly black with a few spots or bright yellow with a few black edges. They can grow up to three metres long but are generally around 2 metres in length.
They is found all along the New South Wales coastline down into the north-eastern corner of Victoria. They are frequently spotted in Sydney suburbs that border on bushland. These pythons might not have venom but their fangs will still ʜᴜʀᴛ if you get ʙɪᴛᴛᴇɴ. There are also some snakes out there that are poisonous so it’s not worth taking the ʀɪsᴋ.
Like most snakes they can sᴡᴀʟʟᴏᴡ animals much larger than the diameter of their own heads and are often found in the roofs of private properties, until all sources of food are gone from the area.
