Burmese python
IN PHOTO: U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) (L) speaks to reporters as a previously caught live Burmese python is held by Wildlife Commissioner Ron Bergeron (R) before Nelson took part in a hunt for pythons during a state-sponsored snake hunt, near in the Everglades, Florida January 17, 2013. Python Challenge 2013 is a month-long event sponsored by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission offering prizes of $1,500 for the most pythons captured and $1,000 for the longest python. Reuters/Joe Skipper

Residents of the village of Garkhuta in West Bengal, India, were shocked when they saw a 10-foot-long python swallow a dead goat. The incident, which happened on May 2, was captured by photographer Roni Choudhury who was walking by the Sonakhali Reserve Forest.

He described the snake as about 9 to 10 feet long and looks young. Choudhury watched the incident for more than one hour, but by the time he left, the python was not done swallowing its prey. The python first coiled its body around the dead animal and then stretched its jaw to swallow the goat, reports the New York Post.

He said that based on talk among villager who watched the event, it took the reptile about four hours to finish swallowing the goat, reports the Mirror. Choudhury said “It was one of the most spectacular moments I’ve witnessed.” The video, posted on YouTube on May 11, has gone viral with almost 150,000 hits in just two days.

An onlooker said the python appeared not bothered by people watching it devour the goat. As soon as the snake was done, it left the forest and slowly crawled to nearby grassy bushes. Mirror notes that the incident is due to the deforestation of the neighbouring Jalpaiguri Forest Reserve.

District Forest Officer Vidyut Sarkar was alarmed by the incident because it happened at a residential village. He said, “It would have been acceptable had this happened inside the forest range or had the python caught a deer or something … If the python caught a goat, it could very easily kill a man or a child,” quotes Mirror.

To contact the writer, email: vittoriohernandez@yahoo.com

RELATED STORIES