A snake catcher in Australia recently saw a shocking sight: a tree frog devouring a highly venomous snake.
Snake catcher Jamie Chapel was called to the scene in the coastal city of Townsville, Australia after reports of a frog and deadly snake.
Jamie, of Townsville Snake Take Away and Chapel Pest Control, told 7 NEWS AU, “I had the intention to save the snake, but it was too late. The frog was already eating it and wasn’t going to let it go. I was concerned the frog was going to die and regurgitate the snake.”
The frog completely swallowed the snake, which could be seem wriggling in the frogs belly. The frog was said to survive and was later released into the wild.
The snake-catcher posted photos of the sighting on Facebook, describing it as ‘the coolest thing ever’.
The Australian green tree frogs primarily feed on insects such as moths, cockroaches, and locusts, but in rare scenarios, they will dine upon snake.
This is certainly not the first time frogs have been observed taking on their serpentine adversaries in Australia. For example, this green tree frog was observed eating a carpet python:
While green tree frogs rarely grow to little more than four inches in length, an adult carpet python can exceed lengths of ten feet and is known for feeding on mammals, birds, and lizards — garnering a much higher place on the food chain and putting the frog at a distinct disadvantage.
Even a juvenile carpet python is capable of suffocating its prey to death, but in this situation, prey conquers predator.
In another surprising sighting, this time sixty miles south of Darwin, Australia, a ferocious cane toad took on a giant keelback snake.
Keelback snakes are regarded as one of the cane toad’s most prominent enemies — exceeding them in size, length, weight. This three-foot-long snake met his unlikely match in the hungry toad that day.
In addition to challenging snakes, frogs have been known to eat their own relatives. In 2015 a cannibalistic frog was photographed dining on one its own kind. Yikes!
