While the common saying might be that we live in a dog eat dog world, we also apparently live in a snake eat snake world as well, as the struggle for survival led this cobra to consume a nearby puff adder.
Klaus Bohmer, an engineer, caught the meal on video and sent it in to Latest Sightings along with the story. This encounter took place in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, on the road between Mata Mata and Twee Rivieren.
Although larger snakes consuming smaller snakes is not unheard of, they will more commonly prey on rodents and other small mammals. If resources are scarce, or the snake is particularly hungry, however, then another snake will make just as good of a meal.
Right Place At The Right Time
For Klaus and his family, they were fortunate to witness this rare moment, as it was late evening and the two snakes were reportedly small enough to blend in with the color of the road.
Another car had already spotted the spectacle and stopped to watch it, and these other tourists were kind enough to point it out to Klaus and his family, giving them the opportunity to see it as well.
Impassive Consumption
The larger snake, a cobra, had almost completely consumed the puff adder, leaving only a small amount of the adder’s tail hanging out of its mouth, but it was in no hurry to finish the job.
The two snakes lay almost completely motionless with the cobra not even trying to swallow the adder’s tail. Perhaps it had stage fright from the sudden audience, or maybe it had bitten off more than it could chew and was regretting the size of the meal.
One Last Act
One snake eating another might not be a common sighting, but even more uncommon was the fact that it wasn’t clear if the cobra had put in the effort to kill the adder before it started eating it.
Klaus arrived on the scene when the cobra was already partway through its meal, so the events preceding this are unknown, but in his footage the tail of the adder can be seen feebly moving.
It’s possible that these were just the muscle spasms of a dead animal, but Klaus didn’t believe that, and suspected that the adder was potentially being eaten alive, using its last moments of life to instinctively try moving away.
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A Measured Meal
After staying still long enough for both groups of tourists to get a good look at it, the cobra did eventually shift its position a little and start trying to draw the adder further into its mouth.
Although it was working on finishing off the tail, it was still clearly in no hurry to do so. Snakes can be vulnerable when they are in such a position as they are unable to react as quickly to potential threats, but Klaus had to move on before he could watch the cobra finish its meal.
Klaus described the sighting as “exciting” and “super rare”, saying that even the guides living in the area claimed not to have seen anything like it before.