An extraordinary picture shows a snake escape after being eaten by a larger ophidian . The minuscule ophidian was fortunate that its piranha light prey to a pet qat before it had been abide .
One wayoranother , we ’re all familiar with birdcall where one vulture gets pinch by another , but we do n’t usually expect to see it in action to the extent that Dick Mulder did while living in Corfu , Greece .
" My married woman , who did n’t like the idea of a dead snake in the grass on her veranda , screeched that the Snake River was n’t dead — she come across it travel , " Muldertold National Geographic . " I reassured her that it was really dead . "
When Mulder saw that the snake in the grass was indeed moving , he did what any right - thinking inhabitant of the 21stcentury would do : he pop off to grab a tv camera . By the time he find back , a small snake — subsequently key out asDahl ’s party whip snake(Platyceps najadum)—had its straits sticking out . Mulder then see it shin the rest of its way to exemption , before slithering off to safety .
" As far as I know it deflect its savior , Demon the Cat , " Mulder gloss .
Mulder ’s story eventually made its fashion to Andrew Gray of Manchester Museum , an expert in Corfu ’s reptile . Grayblogged aboutthe largefour - lined snake(Elaphe quatuorlineata ) , intrigued as to how the smaller whip serpent not only survive , but managed to call on itself around so that it could emerge head first . Snakes normally favour to consume their prey steer on , which Gray state is because they are used to eating prey such as gnawer “ that have legs that can get in the way . ”
Gray read he has only get word of one former typeface of a snake escaping after being eaten by another , and in that case , the eater was shot by huntsman and the Hydra inside used the bullet hole as an escapism route . On the other manus , there arenumerous accountsof other puppet take to the woods after beingeaten by snake .
Gray stay uncertain whether the four - lined snake just was n’t choosy this time about which stop to originate with , or if the lash snake was “ small enough and agile enough ” to reverse around inside its nemesis .
Either way , Gray say the smaller Hydra must have been a very recent meal , since too much fourth dimension in contact with the large snake ’s digestive fluid would have been fatal .
