For snake catchers in Australia, pulling a venomous reptile out of someone's home is just a regular day on the job. But a callout for a snake-eating snake … well, that's worth catching on video.



Norman and Sally Hill from N&S Snake Catcher, who arrived at a house in Brisbane to find the animal mid-meal, say the encounter was one for the books. "We've never seen something like this before, it's very rare any snake catcher gets an opportunity to witness something like this," Sally Hill told the ABC. 

To avoid causing the animal unnecessary stress, the team decided to let the snake feed in peace before relocating it.

"We just put him into the bag, if you disturb them too much they'll regurgitate their meal and it's just a waste," Hill said. Settling in to wait patiently for a few hours, they posted a picture of the hungry reptile to their Facebook page, simply captioned "We will be here for a little while."  



The dining reptile is an eastern brown, one of the world's most dangerous venomous snakes. They can reach 1.5 metres or more, and feed on a variety of prey, including – obviously – other snakes. Residents of eastern Australia do well to keep an eye out for this species, as the snakes have a habit of getting into houses, and bites are common (though they often result from people trying to handle or kill the animal).

As for the brown snake's unfortunate lunch, you're looking at a carpet python. Though non-venomous, these pretty snakes can grow to over three metres in length, and are common house interlopers, great rat catchers and occasional pet eaters. The N&S Snake Catcher Facebook page features several carpet pythons the team has wrangled in the past few weeks, including one that sadly ate a pet bird before it was caught.

__

Top header image: Alexandre Roux, Flickr