Eyes bigger than its stomach: Black snake eats brown | Photos
HARD TO SWALLOW: A 1.6-metre red bellied black snake was spotted eating a brown snake at Kanoona, off the Candelo-Bega Rd, on Sunday.
A red bellied black snake has been photographed eating a brown snake that was almost its own size.
On Sunday afternoon, Steve Young was slashing on his property at Kanoona when he spotted the 1.6-metre black snake with a metre of its brown-coloured relative sticking out of its mouth.
“I was standing over the top of it taking a photograph and my wife said ‘you’re crazy’,” Mr Young said.
“But I said ‘it won’t bite me because it’s got its mouth full!’”
He was not sure how much the black snake had eaten before he arrived, but photos he took show it was certainly much fatter by the time it was done gorging itself.
Despite seeing many snakes of both kinds before, it was the first time Mr Young had witnessed such a sight.
“Black snakes never bothered me before, they’re fairly timid and quick to run away,” he said.
“I don’t really mind the blacks eating the browns!”
Black snakes are known to even eat their own species.