by Spectacular footage has emerged showing the dramatic moment a python dragged a possum into a tree by its head and ᴀᴛᴇ it.
The video was captured by John Holroyd-Doveton, 44, after he looked into the back garden of his Bowen Mountain home, 70kms west of Sydney, in December.
John – originally from the UK – was drawn to the scene after hearing what sounded like animals ꜰɪɢʜᴛɪɴɢ outside. But what he found was an eye-opening act of nature that unfolded over more than two and a half hours.
That’s the sight of the serpent – believed to be a diamond python – dangling from a tree with the possum’s head trapped inside its mouth. The snake then pulls the possum into the tree’s branches where it sᴛʀᴀɴɢʟᴇs the ʟɪꜰᴇ out of the marsupial by coiling its body around it. The two animals were eventually left on the ground where the snake ꜰɪɴɪsʜᴇᴅ off its ᴘʀᴇʏ, John said.
John – who moved into the Bowen Mountain home five months ago having lived in London’s east end – said: “I spent 40 years in the UK, and the most wildʟɪꜰᴇ I ever saw was a fox.” “As sad as it is for the possum, I feel so privileged to see and share this amazing creature doing what it does best.”
He added: “I did not disturb or hinder the snake, as I feel it’s just ʟɪꜰᴇ playing out as it should.” John said that the python hasn’t re-emerged since ᴅᴇᴠᴏᴜʀɪɴɢ the possum, but a similar snake was seen on his neighbour’s front lawn.
Australian Reptile Park spokesman told that it was not unusual for bigger pythons to consume food items seven times as big as their head.
“They aren’t venomous but they have teeth, so they’ll use their teeth and their ᴄᴏɴsᴛʀɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴs to consume their ᴘʀᴇʏ,” he said. “It’s pretty common for pythons to feed on possums, as larger food items are more beneficial so they don’t have to eat as regularly.”
