Botswana - December 2016 - Rock Camp, Mashatu
The beautiful 2017 calendar calls this area "Magical Mashatu" and well named it is. Six of us had the privilege of staying at Rock Camp for six days over Christmas and we were privy to some amazing sightings. The first was the killing of an impala lamb by a five metre African rock python a large but non-venomous snake. The python is Africa's largest snake and one of the six largest in the world.
Our ranger, Mollman, heard the distressed bleating of an impala ewe and following this we came upon this sight. The python can be seen biting the lamb above the hock on the left back leg at the same time that it is wrapped around the lamb's middle. Pythons kill their prey by squeezing the breath out of them. They coil themselves about the victim, tightening slightly with each breath the prey takes, until breath stops. When the python senses that the prey has stopped breathing, it swallows the prey whole, digesting the food entirely in its stomach. (Google).
The lamb was still fighting when we arrived and the mother was intent on trying to save it to no avail.
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| Here the head is visible with the remainder of the snake still wrapped around the lamb. It was not entirely happy with our presence showing us as much, below, as its tongue flashed in and out of its mouth. |
By this time the snake should probably have been consuming the snake but unfortunately it appeared a little disconcerted with our presence. Mollman decided it would be better to reverse away from the scene quietly but frustratingly and obviously unintentionally we drove over a log which snapped with a crack at which point the python disappeared, showing us its full length, into a nearby bush from whence it probably emerged later to finish the action.
The snake is widely feared although it rarely kills humans. It is not endangered but does face threats from habitat reduction and hunting. An amazing sighting.
