Yeah, it’s terrifying that stuff like this happens out in the wild.
As we humans are just going about our lives, and checking Instagram for the 18th time today, creatures out in the wild are gruesomely sparring like this. This video takes place in the “Land Down Under,” which honestly shouldn’t be all that surprising.
When I see crazy videos and stories involving snakes, my first guess is that it took place in Florida. If I’m wrong with my initial guess, my close second is to always assume the location is Australia.
That’s where this battle to the death between a sizable monitor lizard and a massive python happened. A kayaker was paddling by when they heard some rustling in the brush.
The person was then brave enough (remember they are in Australia) to check things out, and quickly stumbled upon an unbelievable entanglement which featured a python wrapped around the back half of a large monitor lizard.
Now if you were offered betting odds when the video first starts, the python would have been heavily favored. The snake was constricting around the lizard and striking every chance it got, and though the monitor lizard was still fighting back, it wasn’t looking good.
Both the monitor lizard and the python were biting and staying on the offensive as much as possible, ripping at one another’s skin. It was a real push and pull affair, meaning that anytime the lizard tried to bite down on the python, the snake took the opportunity to violently strike as well.
But as you continue to watch the clip, it becomes apparent that though the python is coiled around the back of the lizard, the larger reptile is actually (and surprisingly) in control.
There’s even a slight chance that the python wrapped around the monitor lizard just so it wouldn’t get eaten. The lizard might have even picked the fight, and the snake was just doing what it could out of self defense.
And it would have been better off playing defense, because the python’s last attempt to counter-attack ended up costing the creature its life. The monitor lizard timed up a bite of its own perfectly, crunching down on the head of the python and then slinging it around to viciously finish it off.
Once it had bit down on the snake’s head and neck, it never let go, and that was pretty much the end of the battle. Just as you should never judge a book by its cover, you should never assume that a python is in control just because it’s coiled around its competitor.
Check out the gnarly footage below:
