Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys, I saw this picture floating around various email threads. This picture supposedly shows a cow being pulled out of the water by a large snake. Could this possibly be real?

np

things seem kind of slow, so i am going to say yes. But thats no cow. Small/baby kangaroo or walaby maybe. And if I had to guess the species of snake, in keeping with my kangaroo theory, I'd say Amethystine/Scrub Python.

Jeff

i would have to agree. The rear legs are much longer than the front legs so it probably stands upright like a 'roo.

I'd say it is, I'd also say it's a rather large water python and a rock wallaby

actually, yeah i might agree with blkthroat on the olive python... or go with papuan python, the papuans are the bigger of the two so they would make sense

Yes that is a real pic and that is an olive python.

I think the situation depicted in the photo is possible but I believe the photo has been altered. The first thing I noticed was that you cannot tell where the snake's body ends and the rock wall begins. It almost looks like the snakes body is a part of the wall. Perhaps this is the apex of cryptic coloration, but it looks odd. Secondly, there are some places where the snake's body and the rock wall meet that seem to have been blurred together. There are also places in between the snakes body and the rock wall where the pixels form a perfectly straight line which also looks odd. The last odd thing is where is the snake's shadow? You can see shadows underneath some of the rock overhangs close to the water's edge. A snake that large should have cast a shadow I would think.

Brad

It looks photo shopped to me..

Looks real to me. I see no reason to alter a pic of a python eating a wallaby.

It's definitely NOT a cow though. Doesn't even resemble a cow.

Interesting photo!
That is Australian Olive Python (Liasis olivaceus) with what appears to be a wallaby of some sort. Great photo! Looks like it was taken in the Kimberlys.
I owned a pair of these pythons in the early 90's.
Great snakes!
Photo looks real. The habitat and species involved all seem to make sense....I doubt it could have swallowed the wallaby.
Would be interesting to see the end results.
Harlin Wall - WALL TO WALL REPTILES!

Olive Python and a rock wallaby ( look at the tail under water ). I'd go out on a limb and say that their might be a possibility that the snake was scavenging. The snake doesn't look wet ( though it could be ), and the fact it's pulling it up from the river lead me to look at it that way

I think that this is a real pic I think the reason there is doubt is that everyone is probable over estimating the prey items size. it is probably only 25 to 35 pound kangaroo. olive pythons get good size he may have been able to eat it but he could easily killed it and drug it to his side of the bank. The stress on the whole snake makes it look like it is pulling up a prey item but the overall scale of the picture is being misjudged. thats why it is causing doubt. Some Kanagroos only get 1 1/2 feet tall. The rock wall can be any size too, may only be an 8-10 foot snake.