A duiker’s horns usually protect it while it is still alive. However, in this rare sighting, the horns vindicated the deceased animal, cutting right through the python.
A male duiker’s horns are 10 centimetres long on average, so this was no light injury for the large python. Both horns penetrated right through, in a moment that spectators at the site will never forget.
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Christo says that while he frequently visits South African game reserves, this was the first time he had ever seen something like this.
Python Attempts To Swallow Duiker
According to Christo, he had spotted a duiker lying down just outside his chalet. Wondering what was going on, he went to inspect the unusual sighting.
He quickly realised that a python had gotten hold of it and was in the process of swallowing it. Pythons lack the jaw structure and teeth necessary for chewing; they have to swallow their prey whole.
The python was coiled around its prey and was as long as it was thick.
Christo was surprised by the size and might of the python and its choice of prey. While duikers are small for antelopes, they are a large meal for a python.
It is not unusual for a python to kill and eat a small mammal, and in this instance, a buck. However, the larger the meal, the longer the snake’s swallowing and digestive processes take to fully consume the meal.
“I was overwhelmed by this and couldn’t believe that I had come across something so unusual,” said Christo.
Viewers Watch In Awe At Snake’s Large Choice Of Meal
The African Rock Python is Africa’s largest snake. It can weigh up to 55kg.. It can also reach a length of 4 metres.
This python must’ve been a particularly large one as it successfully held the duiker in its grip.
The word ‘Duiker’ means to dive. These bucks are so-called because they ‘dive’ into the bushes when danger comes near.
These are tiny and shy antelopes. The females weigh 17 to 25 kilograms, and the males, 15 to 21 kilograms. They are usually around 110 centimetres in length, and their horns, while on average 10 centimetres long, can reach up to 18 centimetres in length.
It seemed the python was going to take forever in feasting on the buck. This was no small meal for the snake, and its body was wrapped around the buck with determination, as it continued in its attempts at swallowing the small antelope.
However, something unexpected then happened: the Duiker’s horn impaled the python.
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Horns Pierce Through Python As It Attempts To Retreat
Christo explains how news of the sighting got out, and more and more people came to see what was going on.
He believed the growing crowd and noise startled the snake, causing it to retreat, but as it pulled away, the duiker’s horns drove straight through the python’s head!
“Luckily, the python could wiggle and jiggle about and set itself free,” he said.