Watch the sighting here:
Jan Ondrej filmed the incident and submitted his account to Latest Sightings. He filmed it in a park in Poland, while cycling on Magurka Mountain.
Ride in the countryside
Jan told Latest Sightings that he and his friend were enjoying their day out when, “We heard a very strange screaming noise just a few metres away from us coming from the side of the road.”
At first they saw nothing; the only movement appeared to be leaves moving in the wind.
On closer inspection
It was only when they went closer, they realised that they were witnessing a life or death battle between a snake and a frog.
As seen above, the snake — a grass snake (Natrix natrix) — had caught a frog — a Dybowski’s frog (Rana dybowskii) — by the hind leg.
Hunting method
Grass snakes are non-venomous and actively search for prey (mostly amphibians) near to water. As seen in the video, they do not constrict their prey.
Rather, the recurved teeth on either side of the jaws anchor the prey, while they swivel their head sideways, gradually enveloping their meal.
Note how, in the next picture, the snake has made its way up the frog’s leg using this technique.
Resistance is futile
In the meantime, the frog continued squeaking in protest. It tried to kick the snake in the head and, when that failed, tried to jump free of it.
In both instances, the snake remained undeterred, continuing to swallow the frog until it reached its rear end.
Tricky junction
At this point, it seemed like the snake had made a mistake. Having swallowed one leg, the other one, which was still loose, made it difficult for the snake to continue.
However, snakes are well-equipped to deal with this. They have very elastic skin around their mouths, allowing them to stretch their mouths around their prey.
In tandem with its alternating jaw movements, it soon ingested the other back leg too. At this point, the frog was still alive although it had stopped squeaking and seemed resigned to its fate.
Emotional
Said Jan, “We watched with mixed emotions as the power struggle between amphibian and reptile continued.
“The frog kept trying to enlarge its body size by taking big breaths of air to blow itself up like a balloon, so that it would be too large for the snake to fit into its mouth.”
Unfortunately for the frog, none of its defences prevented the snake from gradually swallowing it. Rhythmically, the snake “chewed” its way up the frogs’ body.
Get our Best Sightings as they Come in
Messy eater
Eventually, all that was visible was the tip of the frogs’ snout and its two front legs protruding from either side of the snakes’ mouth.
Subsequently, having all but consumed the frog, the swollen snake slithered off into the undergrowth to digest its meal in peace.
In case you’re wondering, the frog would eventually die due to either suffocation and/or the effects of the snake’s digestive system.
Later, Ondrej said he was elated. “We could not believe that we were able to capture such an incredible sighting… I’ve never seen anything like this in my entire life, I never knew that a frog can scream that much!”
Wouldn’t you scream if you were being swallowed alive?