This Puff Adder, one of the world’s fastest-striking snakes, wasn’t fast enough for the king of snakes, a Cape Cobra.
Gabi Hotz, a wildlife lover and nature enthusiast, was fortunate enough to have front-row seats to this incredible sighting. She shared her photos and story on LatestSightings.com.
“After having spent two amazing weeks in Kgalagadi, we were coming to the end of our holiday. We departed for our last and final drive of the trip with a goal in mind. We wanted to catch a final glimpse of a lioness and her cubs that we had spotted over the last few days.”
“Straining our eyes and scanning through every small bush in sight, we looked high and low but without much luck. However, the slow driving paid off in another way. We spotted a snake—a big Cape Cobra! Now, seeing snakes in general is not a very common occurrence on any safari. but, spotting a Cape Cobra made it even more special.”
“And to make it even more exciting, the cobra wasn’t alone; It had caught something! Sticking out of its mouth we could see something big, but it did not look like a bird or a rodent. It was feeding on another snake! Something we had never seen before. Using our camera and binoculars, we were able to see that the snake was a cobra and its victim was a deadly Puff Adder.”
“We watched in amazement as the cobra started slowly swallowing the snake inch by inch! We could see as each muscle of the cobra moved to be able to get this pretty large Puff Adder down. With its mouth open as wide as it could go, the cobra made it look so effortless as it swallowed the snake whole.”
“Because this is something we have never seen before, I was curious to find out more. That’s when I learnt that Cobras often eat other snakes. And in particular Puff Adders, which I think is just fascinating!”