JUST A NORMAL SATURDAY

Australia is a land of big skies and lots of empty space. It is also the land of crocodiles, snakes, lizards, spiders. Oh…let’s not forget the flies…..Australia is THE LAND OF FLIES, no doubt about that. The bastards are everywhere and annoying. But thats country life. City life is something else. Australian city life is so far removed from rural and outback Australia it’s like living on another planet. The last thing city slickers expect to experience is wild Australia in the suburbs…until something moves in and takes over. This story is about a particular possum, and a not so friendly python.

So, to say it was quite a shock when a huge python dangling from a neighbours tree with a possum in its mouth fell to the ground in front of the wife as she was hanging out the washing is no understatement. Spiders are pretty common, but three metre snakes on the hunt in the backyard are not what you expect.

Landing on the ground the possum struggled to escape, but it was not to be. The python was intent on finishing what it started and despite the anguished look for help the possum gave us it didn’t last more than a minute or two. Holding the possum firmly in its jaws the python coiled itself round its hapless prey constantly increasing the pressure until the possum succumbed to the inevitable.

As soon as the poor animal went limp the python adjusted position and starting crushing and elongating the limp body with a corkscrew-like twisting motion. Then it articulated its jaws and beginning with the head progressively ingested the animal in series of crush, stretch, push and swallow movements .

As the photos can attest it was a pretty gruesome and emotional thing to witness. But then that’s nature……it’s not always fluffy and furry. Sometimes it’s quite raw. And this was one of those times.

Now…where else in the world can you go out to your backyard in the middle of suburbia to hang washing and come back inside after witnessing a possum being eaten by a snake, except in Australia.

If you want to learn a little more, check out National Geographic’s site on the python, and the possum. You can also check out our Outback Australia gallery.