Party crashing snake grabs possum snack ( Australia )

Queensland Newspapers ^ | May 13, 2009

[george76]

STUNNED dinner party guests lost their appetites as they watched a huge python crack the bones and swallow an adult possum whole.

A loud thump on the roof and then a squishy fall to the ground below was the only indication that disaster was looming.

[george76]

the 3.5m carpet python

http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2009/05/13/50865_ntnews.html

[South40]

With ‘party’ and ‘snake’ in the headline I expected this article to be about a democRAT.

[JoeProBono]

[JoeProBono]

[My Favorite Headache]

Wasn’t that the one where the snake was trying to eat a dying gator?

[LukeL]

got him as good as he got me.

[Fichori]

Possum is actually pretty good.

Tastes like chicken. (if they are raised on chicken feed anyway)

[JoeProBono]

Indeed

[TexasRepublic]

“STUNNED dinner party guests lost their appetites...”

Wimps. That had to beat any cocktail conversations. A friend of mine had a 12 foot Burmese python. He told me one day that it was feeding time — would I like to see it eat a rabbit or a chicken? I opted for the rabbit. The bunny was so huge that I had to watch the whole performance to see just how that fat rabbit would ever fit inside a narrow snake. After crushing the rabbit, the snake’s coils twisted the rabbit from end to end like you would wring out a wash rag. After the rabbit had been narrowed down by stretching lengthwise, the snake dislodged its jaw and slowly enveloped the rabbit’s head. I still have this mental picture of nothing but the hind feet sticking from the snake’s mouth! That’s just nature — you can either be horrified or learn something interesting from it.

[george76]

a snake thread

[BIGLOOK]

Thanks George,

Used to catch snakes as a kid in NY (Blacks, garters and sometimes a copperhead) and out in California (Gophers, Kings and Rattlers ....the rattlers we made $5 off selling them to a doctor who made anti venom.) Swam with sea snakes in the South China Sea and caught cobras in the P.I. (they tended to infest the barracks during the Monsoon season.)

Never seen a python in the wilds or any of the truly aggressive species like the African or Australian snakes. But I never got a grip on the fears some people had for snakes. Chances of getting bit are slim to none if you keep your eyes open and watch your step.

My favorite tale of an encounter with a King Cobra was in the P.I. There was a very large snake on the grounds between the barracks and the EM Club. Maybe a 12 footer. The station's fire dept. was called in and they recruited volunteers to surround the snake while a herpetologist (another anti venom guy) from Manila was flown up to catch it. His assistant stood in front of it and got it to rear up to strike, the doctor walked in from behind and grabbed it's head....then the fun began. It was an all hands drill to unwrap the sucker and get it in the bag.

Turned out the Cobra was longer than initially estimated...maybe 15 feet and as thick as a fire hose. What was more amazing is that it grew 5 more feet after everybody retired to the EM Club to retell the story.