A daring snake with a big appetite was recently caught in the act of eating another snake. The reptile was shown in video footage eating a venomous relative head first.
The sight was filmed in Georgia by an elderly man who was surprised to see the entwined serpents near his mailbox. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources shared a video on their Facebook page with the caption "It's a snake eat snake world out there."
An eastern kingsnake can be seen moving its jaw down the body of a timber rattlesnake in the video. The kingsnake is likely to have killed the larger snake before it could move.
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It's difficult to tell from the video how long the snakes are, as one is already eaten by the other. Eastern kingsnakes reach a maximum length of just 3.9 feet, while timber rattlesnakes reach a maximum length of 6 feet. The video shows the rattlesnake is larger than the kingsnake.
Many species of snakes are capable of swallowing larger prey than themselves. When snakes eat each other, it is usually the bigger snakes who eat the smaller ones.
One of the few species that can eat larger snakes is the eastern kingsnake. Kingsnakes hunt by biting their prey near the neck and coiling around the animal's body. Kingsnakes are immune to the toxins of their venomous cousins. According to the University of Georgia, this allows them to eat on snakes.
The University of Georgia reported that the eastern kingsnake is listed as a protected species in Georgia but not in other states.
It was originally published on Live Science
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