Giant snake swallows whole goat

Two huge African Rock Pythons were captured on Tuesday (yesterday) afternoon. The two snakes were found in the Esidakeni area (outside Ezakheni) that morning after one of the serpents had eaten a goat.

Ezemvelo Wildlife was called to capture the massive snakes. They were at the top of a mountain and 14 men walked to where the slithering ‘monsters’ were curled around a rock. It is believed that they were mating at the time, as it appeared that there was only one snake. Once the coiled mass was untangled, it became clear that there were in fact two of these giant snakes. The first one was removed, being 3.5 metres in length. This one was put into a bag and carried back down the hill to the bakkies.

The second one was too big to fit in a bag and was carried down the mountain by six men. It was clear by the large protrusion in its stomach that this was the snake that had eaten the goat. This 5.5-metre-long reptile was then put into a large cage on the back of one of the Ezemvelo bakkies. This snake then regurgitated the goat it had swallowed whole earlier in the day.

The stinky remains of the goat were removed from the cage and will be sold to sangomas for muti purposes. When they were catching the snakes, one of the men was bitten and had to go for injections. These snakes are not venomous, but rather use their powerful muscles to constrict their prey. However, they can give a very nasty bite.

The snakes were taken to Nambiti Big 5 Private Game Reserve, where they cannot harm any humans. The African Rock Python is the third largest snake in the world and is Africa’s largest snake. It is also on the endangered species list. It can grow up to six metres long, which means that the longer of the two snakes captured was fully grown, while the first was about half its age.

Story of the snakes has spread far and wide. See the Earth Touch News Network story HERE