Rare Snake Dies While Eating Giant Centipede in Florida Park

A rare snake died while attempting to eat a giant centipede at a South Florida park, according to the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.

Researchers said a hiker found the rare snake at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Pictures showed the snake dead with the rear portion of a centipede protruding from its mouth.

“The state-threatened rim rock crowned snake lives in pine rockland and hammock habitats in eastern Miami-Dade County and the Keys,” FWC said in a Facebook post.

Researchers said the snake usually grows between seven and nine inches long, but is rarely seen because it lives under rocks, debris, or in limestone cavities. The post also mentioned the unusual sighting represented the first food record of any kind for the little-known species.

FWC speculated the snake tried to eat a juvenile Keys giant centipede, which can reportedly reach the size of a crowned snake in its adult form.

“Crowned snakes are usually immune to the venom of centipedes, whose bites are painful to humans, but something went wrong during this encounter,” the Facebook post stated.

The snake, along with the centipede, will soon go into the Florida Museum of Natural History collection.

They had this 8 year old kid in Australia who would pick up those giant, centipedes in Australia like nothing. The thing would wrap around his wrist, and he would hold it steady by its head.

He would have huge marks over all his hand, and lower arm from the its legs digging into his skin, once he let it go.

A friend of mine up north hated those things. She would try to get it with a broom from the ceiling ant it would run down from the other end and she would scream hysterically.

Thankfully, none here.

I never heard of them, either.

Years ago I had the worst conflict of interest experience.

I found a little Garter teen trying to swallow a big Eastern Spotted Salamander and struggling mightily with that.
[eyes bigger than belly syndrome]

The salamander was obviously already deceased so saving it from the snake was pointless so I ended up staying with it until I knew it was going to be able to finish swallowing it and be okay.

A few years ago a pair of Banded Water Snakes [aka OMG it’s Cottonmouths!!!] popped up in my little fish pond.
At first I thought my largest and elderly Comet had died and was floating but then I saw the larger water snake had it stuck sideways in its mouth and was struggling and exhausted from trying to swallow it.

So I fished it out, got it to spit out the Comet and tossed the Comet over in the corner of the yard.
[meanwhile, the tiny water snake was periscoping around the little pond like Nessie, so stinking cute]
I figured the danger was past and went back inside.

I came out an hour later the snake had gone over to the corner of the yard, found the dead Comet and had carried it back to the pond and was giving it another go.

By this time the Comet had “shrunken” a bit from lying out in the sun and the water snake managed to eat it.

I was really freaking out, worried it would die from eating something too large.

later that day I went to the pet store and bought a bunch of size-appropriate feeder fish for the water snakes to avoid this hysteria, again.

My wild critter friendly yard is so full of nature drama.

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