This alligator lizard was nearly swallowed whole by a kingsnake but opted to ғɪɢʜᴛ back from the jaws of ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ. The courageous reptile clung desperately to the California kingsnake, refusing to accept that it would become breakfast.

Bryan Snyder, a naturalist and author from Santa Barbara, California, took the peculiar photos while taking a morning stroll through the Santa Ynez Valley.

A California kingsnake sᴛᴀʀᴛʟᴇd an alligator lizard by seizing its body, but the lizard hooked onto the snake’s body before it could turn to swallow the snake head-first, according to Bryan. There was just the alligator lizard’s head remaining for the snake to consume and the lizard tried to ᴄʟᴏsᴇ its jaws around the snake’s body.

Normally, snakes will consume lizards like this one head first. But because of the lizard’s position and the snake’s desperation, it was compelled to ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋ in the opposite direction.

And the most bizarre thing? The lizard made it! It injured the snake before squirming away and successfully escaping!

In California’s backcountry, kingsnakes routinely ʜᴜɴᴛ on alligator lizards, but seeing soᴍᴇᴛʜing like this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Wild! California kingsnakes are fairly opportunistic when it comes to eating. In addition to rodents and smaller reptiles, they will also ʜᴜɴᴛ rattlesnakes and other snakes.

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