A PYTHON has been filmed trying and failing to swallow whole what looks like a wallaby.
In the video, posted on break.com and believed to have taken place at James Cook University, people can be heard squealing as the python clamps its jaws around the creature and begins to swallow, news.com.au reports.
But the snake seems to realise it is biting off more than it can chew and is forced to back away and regurgitate the upper half of the animal's body. The camera operator then jolts and swears as the python pulls away briefly from the animal to inspect the crowd that has gathered.
Andrew Krockenberger, associate professor at James Cook University, said he ran out to watch the attack with some students after being alerted by a co-worker.
"Our lab co-ordinator came in from the car park and told us there was a python trying to eat a wallaby – so we all went out to have a look," he said.
"While seeing sakes and wallabies isn't unusual, it was very unusual to see a snake trying to eat a wallaby on the side of a road."
Prof Krockenberger told news.com.au that the python made several attempts to consume the wallaby before the incident was caught on camera.
"It was a very small python and it gave up after a while. It had a good try but it was a little over ambitious," he said.
"I don't know whether it would have managed to swallow the wallaby if there hadn't had been so many people watching. I think it got a little spooked.
"We moved the wallaby from the side of the road to a nearby bush hoping the snake would have another go later, but it didn't."
While some believed the wallaby had been hit by a car, Prof Krockenberger said the evidence suggested the snake attacked and killed the wallaby.
"I suspect the snake killed the wallaby because it was right at the end of a low speed road, and the wallaby wasn't there in the morning," he said.
