A snake hung upside down from a tree for 12 hours on Saturday after it slipped from a branch and its prey proved too heavy for a meal. A concerned citizen discovered a possum hanging from the mouth of a threefootlong python in his backyard, and it is likely that the two animals “fought” in the trees before the snake emerged victorious. However, it appears that the snake has become stuck, with only the tip of its tail left hanging on the branch eight meters above the ground.
“The snake was hanging straight down with the possum in its mouth and we thought it was trying to pull it up the tree but it must have fallen,” snake catcher Stuart Mckenzie told Yahoo News Australia.
The specialist mentioned how “strange” it was for the snake to be in this position and believed it had been there for up to 12 hours before he intervened.
Aside from the snake falling from the tree, it is likely that the weight of the possum and the angle of the snake's teeth caused gravity to “capture” the animals.
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“The snake probably didn't want to fall because it didn't know how high it was … but it's likely that its backwardfacing teeth may have caught it and it couldn't free it,” Mckenzie said.
Mckenzie believes the snake seemed quite pleased when he separated the two animals and did not approach the possum after the snake hunter placed it at the base of the tree.
“I think she was really relieved. She climbed the tree. I went there the next morning and the snake was gone. I think she was really happy to be free,” he said.