'Must fly – can't stay for lunch!' Dainty egret narrowly misses being munched by a HIPPO
THIS is the moment Beauty met the Beast – and lived to tell the tale.
This delicate egret made a dash for it when a nearby hippo opened his jaws
The dainty little egret was feeding in the shallows of Uganda’s Lake Mburo when it got too close to a hippo.
Weighing about one-and-a-half tons, hippos are Africa’s most dangerous animals and are best given a very wide berth.
The disappointed beast sank back under the water, clearly unimpressed
So when this bruiser opened his jaws and roared, the egret did not need another warning.
One look at the size of that mouth and it was off.
It rose from the water, yellow feet trailing, and flew off to a safer part of the pool to resume its hunt for fish and frogs.
The drama in the national park in southern Uganda was captured by photographer David Driver, 57, of Oakworth, West Yorkshire.
He said: “The egret managed to escape moments before the hippo got to him so the disappointed beast sank back under the water, clearly unimpressed.”
Despite the hippo’s fearsome teeth, the egret was almost certainly not on the menu.
Hippos are vegetarian, living mostly on grass.
If the green stuff is in short supply, however, they will occasionally eat meat.
So the egret was probably wise not to take any chances.