The tough creature provided spectators with a front row seat, displaying its strength in all its glory.
Honey badger puts on show of strength and determination
Wanzen’s film shows the relentless honey badger dragging the massive python across a riverbed in the reserve. Honey badgers are widely regarded as one of the most fearless animals on Earth.
This one must have been fearless to have confronted a python and overcome the giant snake. This kind of bravado is not unusual for the creatures.
Despite their relatively small size, honey badgers have been known to confront animals much larger than themselves. These include lions, leopards, and even crocodiles!
Their skin is thick and loose, allowing them to twist around and bite even when a predator has them in its jaws. This physical resilience, combined with a fierce temperament, makes honey badgers uniquely tough among mammals.
Honey badger drags ‘lunch’ towards the bush
The clipping shows the sheer strength and determination of the honey badger as it captures the python and then proceeds to move it towards the vegetation at the side of the sandy riverbank area.
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Honey badgers are opportunistic carnivores with a diet that includes rodents, birds, insects, and reptiles, especially snakes. They are expert hunters and will actively seek out snakes, even large ones like this one.
Their sharp teeth and powerful jaws can crush bones and pierce tough reptilian skin, allowing them to kill and consume prey like pythons.
When hunting snakes, honey badgers often use a combination of speed, aggression, and strategic bites to disable the snake’s head quickly.
While this clipping doesn’t show the initial encounter between the honey badger and the python, these encounters are usually quite intense! Pythons are constrictors and will rely on wrapping around their prey to suffocate them. However, the honey badger’s loose skin and flexibility make it difficult for the python to get a firm grip.
In such battles, the honey badger typically aims for the python’s head, using its strong teeth to deliver fatal bites.
This honey badger clearly had its python-hunting skills down to a fine art.
Not always ‘sweet as honey’ as one might believe
While they have the special name ‘honey badger’, this has more to do with their love for eating honey than their sweet, endearing nature.
They have been known to raid hives for both the honey and the bee larvae inside.
However, if you were expecting a honey-like temperament, you would be mistaken. Due to their aggressiveness and resilience, honey badgers have earned a measure of respect from animal enthusiasts. Even large carnivores like lions and hyenas often choose to avoid them!
Honey badger drags python out of sight
They are also one of the few mammals which regularly and successfully prey on large, dangerous reptiles like pythons. This one successfully dragged the python off into the bush and out of sight.
The video clip provides a rare glimpse into the secret life of honey badgers and a fine example of how its best never to make assumptions about any animal, but to be open to learning new things about every species observed.