olivewA python in the Northern Territory has put on an impressive display of its eating skills by ᴅᴇᴠᴏᴜʀɪɴɢ an entire wallaby in front of a sʜᴏᴄᴋᴇᴅ ranger patrol that was passing by.

Paul O’Neill, a ranger at the Nitmiluk national park near Katherine, was patrolling near the park’s visitor centre on Monday morning when he stumbled across the confronting scene of an olive python feeding on an agile wallaby joey.

Paul O’Neill then began to document the python’s gigantic meal with his camera. The snake can be seen wrapping itself around the Wallaby, slowly sᴜꜰꜰᴏᴄᴀᴛɪɴɢ is as it begins to ᴅᴇᴠᴏᴜʀ its ᴘʀᴇʏ.

But the marsupial is so huge, the reptile has to unhinge its jaw to fit its mouth around it. It is obviously no easy snack, as the wallaby’s legs jut out of the ᴘʀᴇᴅᴀᴛᴏʀ’s head, halfway down to its digestive system.

Mr Greg Smith a representative for the National Park said the snake had nearly bitten off more than it could chew with this particular meal.”That is just about the biggest ᴘʀᴇʏ it could eat,” he said. “The snake is only a medium build and would probably start to ʜᴜɴᴛ for more tucker within four to eight weeks, but that wallaby would take about five to seven days to digest completely and the snake would go and hide for at least a month.”

Greg admitted for his plethora of experience breeding and dealing with a multitude of different species and varieties of snakes, that they all have difference appetites. “That meal would be sufficient to sustain that snake for at least three months, however some snakes will start looking for food again even if they are overweight and have just eaten.”

The Olive python is Australia’s third-largest snake species (surpassed only by the amethystine python and Oenpelli python). Its high number of dorsal scale rows, makes the skin look smoother than that of other pythons. Its color pattern is uniform chocolate brown to olive green, while the belly is usually cream-colored. The adult weight is typically 10–20 kilograms (22–44 lb), and a large female can exceed 20 kilograms (44 lb) in captivity.

The diet of L. olivaceus consists of birds, mammals (including rock wallabies and fruit bats), birds (ducks and spinifex pigeons), and other reptiles. It prefers to lie in wait next to an animal trail to ᴀᴍʙᴜsʜ its ᴘʀᴇʏ. Alternatively, it is a strong swimmer and also ʜᴜɴᴛs in waterholes, sᴛʀɪᴋɪɴɢ at ᴘʀᴇʏ from under the water. It is also known to ᴘʀᴇʏ on monitor lizards and crocodiles.