A Perth woman captured the moment a carpet python devoured a parrot while hanging from a tree beside the Swan View Tunnel Trail in John Forrest National Park.
Lucy Louise was walking with her children when the family came across the scene. A passer-by had mentioned seeing a python further along the route, but it took them some time to locate it.
“Someone mentioned that there was a python in a tree up ahead while we were on our walk but we couldn’t spot it for a while,” Ms Louise said.
They eventually noticed something in a tree down a small track. It was only after taking a closer look that they realised the snake was feeding on a bird.
“It had probably swallowed around half of the parrot by the time we got close, but we watched it keep going as it swallowed the rest of it,” Ms Louise said.
Carpet pythons are native to Western Australia and are commonly found in the state’s bushland, as well as in outer Perth suburbs and national parks. The reptiles are skilled climbers and ambush predators that frequently target birds, including parrots.
They can strike quickly before coiling around their prey and constricting it, then swallowing it whole. Ms Louise and her children watched as the snake finished its meal.
“It was incredible to watch, and hard to believe that it could fit the whole thing in its mouth,” she said. “The kids were amazed too, even though they found it hard to watch, but that’s the circle of life!”
