Cannibalism: Shocking sight as deadly poisonous vine snake eats green snake alive
THIS is the incredibly rare moment an extremely venomous snake was spotted entwining itself around a hapless green snake to devour it – ALIVE.
The impressively camouflaged vine snake, at times barely visible due to its tree-like markings, gorged on a harmless Eastern natal green snake for a whole half hour.
At first, the green snake coils its thin body around its attacker in a vain attempt to escape.
But as the little serpent succumbs to the vine snake's deadly poison, the predator is shown wrapping its girth around its prey to gobble it down – head first.
The awesome sighting was captured by photographer Richard Mckibbin while he was out with a butterfly walk group on October 15 at the Zimbali Coastal Resort, South Africa.
Mr Mckibbin, 37, from Umhlanga Rocks, South Africa, said: “It was incredibly exciting to see. I see these vine snakes often, but I have never seen anything like this.
It was incredibly exciting to see
“Only a handful of species in South Africa actively hunt out other snakes. Even though this is known to occur, it is very rarely witnessed, especially in this species.
“This made this such an incredible sighting.
“We were probably about four yards away from it.”
Mr Mckibbin, who runs his tour guide and conservation company The LionHeart Experience with wife Candy, says they only spotted the moment after catching sight of the victim's flailing bright green body.
Mr Mckibbin said: “One of the participants on the walk spotted the movement of a bright green snake, only to see that it had just been grabbed by the cryptically camouflaged vine snake.
“The green snake must have been moving through the trees and did not notice the predator lying in wait.
“It wrapped around the vine snake in a feeble attempt at defence and was writhing around, but it was going nowhere.
“We saw the vine snake chewing repeatedly on the green snake to poison it whilst attempting to start ingesting the snake's head and the beginning of its body.
“Within a few moments the green snake's movements stopped, and eventually stopped completely.”
“The vine snake began to move its jaws side to side to ingest the body of its prey.
“It did have a little hiccup on the way when natured offered some salad in the form of a frustratingly placed leaf.
“After getting a mouthful of 'lettuce' two or three times over and swinging away in disgust, it managed to eat its meal by just getting the 'green' it wanted.”
The animal enthusiast says the thorny location made the event particularly difficult to shoot – not least due to the stealthy vine snake's incredible camouflage.
Richard, who has been photographing wildlife for 20 years, said: said: “These snakes have some of the best camouflage in the snake kingdom, and are near impossible to spot when lying motionless in the branches.
CANNIBAL snake disturbingly devours smaller rival
"The lighting was rather tricky, and in order to get a decent view I had to navigate through some thorny brambles and thickets.
“Because it was a butterfly walk that we were doing, and because it is mostly beach sand, I was adorned mostly in good bush gear, but only flip flops.
“The few thorns in the feet were more than worth it.”
Mr Mckibbin says he had mixed feelings about witnessing the kill, but was struck by the abilities of the vine snake as it gobbled down its prey.
Mr Mckibbin said: “I felt sorry for the beautiful little eastern natal green snake. They are very special to me.
“But I was also filled with awe at the stealth and ability of the vine snake. I didn't realise how much larger it would look compared to the natal green, and also it gave me such a respect for their skill in hunting.”
And Mr Mckibbin claims the moment was definitely a personal highlight regarding moments in nature he has managed to capture to date.
Mr Mckibbin said: “It really is a very lucky capture and I am so glad that I had my camera with me at this moment.
“Many years ago I was lucky enough to witness a purple glossed snake eat a giant legless skink (that also looks like a snake).
“It was an awesome sighting, but this one tops it by far. Mostly because both of these species are so beautiful, and I have such a healthy respect for this vine snake, so venomous, but also so docile.
“Two very special snakes.”