My neighbour arrived this morning & said "you'll never believe this ... grab your camera". Down at the front gate the creek has dried up into tiny pools. This red belly snake was in the creek bed trying to devour an eel. Neither of us had ever seen or heard of this before. Has anyone else? https://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x386/helenlee63/IMG_2996.jpg https://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x386/helenlee63/IMG_2987.jpg https://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x386/helenlee63/IMG_2986.jpg
Did it eat it all? Are its eyes bigger than its belly? I don't think it's eyes were bigger than it's belly ... the eel was only slightly bigger in diameter than the snake & as far as I know (although I'm no snake expert) it should have been able to eat it without any trouble. However ... while I was photographing it, the snake sort of shook it's head a little bit ... & I interpreted that to be that I was annoying/distracting it so I cleared off. We stopped at the spot late this afternoon to see if there was anything to see ... & the eel was lying on the ground & no snake in sight. After seeing the whole eel I reckon that when I took the photos the snake had about 15cm's of eel down it's throat. I don't know why it disgorged it ... if it was my distraction or if it just decided it didn't like eel. I don't feel too badly about it ... it was a very healthy looking snake & there is a plethora of prey out here. The thing I'm really curious about is how the snake came to have the eel in the first place. My neighbour said that snakes only eat live prey & he reckons it must have caught the eel in the shallow puddle of water. I really can't see the snake catching it in the water ... but it is only a very small shallow puddle & I guess its possible. I noticed the flies all around & the eel looked kinda "old" to me ... not really fresh ... so do snakes eat things that have been dead for a while or not? And would a black snake catch an eel in shallow water?
I think they will give anything of any size a go!! I saw one drop a half digested possom out of a tree. Fastinating to look at (albiet a bit gross to some). Great photos....
Very cool that you were able to see this! I am a bit of an amateur herpetologist so perhaps I can answer some of your questions. Snakes will normally only eat live prey so the eel was caught alive by the snake. And there's no reason why the snake shouldn't have been able to catch the eel in shallow water. The snake should've been able to swallow that eel without any trouble. It is not uncommon for snakes to vomit up whatever they are in the process of eating if they feel threatened or distressed. So from the sound of it, that is probably what happened.
Would the red belly have poisoned the eel first? Because I can't see a snake killing an eel otherwise. Eels are very strong and aggressive and generally hard to kill. I guess the eel could have been dying from exhaustion. Also, the skin of the eel looks pretty manky. Maybe the snake had already tried eating and disgorging it? Or the eel was old? Or it had been travelling across land?
Yes, the redbelly's venom would kill the eel pretty quickly. No need for a fight. My guess is that if the creek had dried up into tiny pools the eel was probably not in great shape to begin with.