This giant snake died after swallowing a 30lb porcupine – which punctured its insides with its razor-sharp quills.
The four-metre African rock python was found beneath a rocky ledge at Lake Eland Game Reserve in South Africa.
It was discovered by a mountain biker, lying next to a cycle track near Port Shepstone.
Reserve manager Shona Lawson says their guests photographed the snake.
“They sent pictures to our Facebook page and the snake ended up becoming quite a celebrity. On Tuesday last week we went out on the cycle track on foot and managed to find the snake again.
It looked to be quite a lot smaller than the pictures. At first we thought it could have been a young impala and a warthog that it had eaten,” she said.
“In 24 hours it had moved about 90 degrees and it was breathing at the time - you could see the body moving above the bulge,” she said.
Its innards had been lacerated by dozens of quills from the porcupine while trying to digest its meal.
'It is apparent that several porcupine quills were lodged inside the digestive tract. It had fallen off the rocky ledge.
'We don't know if it died beforehand or whether the fall drove some of the quills into its digestive tract.'
While some predators will be warned off by the visual threat displays of a porcupine, many snake species rely on thermal or chemical sensory mechanisms to ambush prey at night.
The four-metre African rock python was found beneath a rocky ledge at Lake Eland Game Reserve in South Africa.
It was discovered by a mountain biker, lying next to a cycle track near Port Shepstone.
Reserve manager Shona Lawson says their guests photographed the snake.
“They sent pictures to our Facebook page and the snake ended up becoming quite a celebrity. On Tuesday last week we went out on the cycle track on foot and managed to find the snake again.
It looked to be quite a lot smaller than the pictures. At first we thought it could have been a young impala and a warthog that it had eaten,” she said.
“In 24 hours it had moved about 90 degrees and it was breathing at the time - you could see the body moving above the bulge,” she said.
Its innards had been lacerated by dozens of quills from the porcupine while trying to digest its meal.
Snake expert Johan Marais said pythons were known to eat porcupines and other animals with sharp horns.
Reserve general manager Jennifer Fuller said: 'The exact reasons for the snake's death are not clear.
Reserve general manager Jennifer Fuller said: 'The exact reasons for the snake's death are not clear.
'It is apparent that several porcupine quills were lodged inside the digestive tract. It had fallen off the rocky ledge.
'We don't know if it died beforehand or whether the fall drove some of the quills into its digestive tract.'
While some predators will be warned off by the visual threat displays of a porcupine, many snake species rely on thermal or chemical sensory mechanisms to ambush prey at night.
Music : Untitled African rhythm by Kevin MacLeod
Source : DailyMail, Mirror, Lake Eland Game Reserve , ECR.CO.ZA
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