{Great photos at URL below!}



DAILY MAIL (London, UK) 20 May 10 Catfish surprise! Snake snags massive scaly lunch in the bayou

At first sight, this snake looks as if it's bitten off more than it can chew.

The diamond-backed water snake decided to take on the huge catfish and pounced on it in the shallows of a slow-moving river.

As the pair wrestled in a life and death struggle photographer David Sledge was on hand to capture the amazing event.

But refusing to give up, the snake dragged the stunned catfish out of the water and up the bank, before pulling it back into the water to finally eat it.

Mr Sledge said: 'I never thought the snake would be able to swallow the fish.

'I was amazed at what I was witnessing. I got as close as I could but I didn't want to scare the snake back into the water.

'They wrestled in the shallows but then the snake dragged the catfish up on to the bank and you could see where the snake had bitten it in several places from the bloody wounds.

'Eventually it dragged the fish back in and I could just glimpse the snake under the murky water finally getting its entire mouth round the catfish's head.'

Mr Sledge was walking along a bayou just outside Sugar Land a suburb southwest of Houston, Texas, when he witnessed the remarkable struggle between predator and prey.

'It was about 4.45pm and I didn't think I would see a snake because I thought the weather was too cool for them,' Mr Sledge said.

'I had been walking for about an hour and was just about to leave when I noticed something on the bank of the bayou on the opposite side of me.

'I crossed the bridge and when I reached the bank I was shocked to see a diamond-backed water snake fighting a catfish it had caught and was trying to eat.'

The species of snake is non-venomous and commonly found in the slow moving waters of Louisiana.

It typically feeds on fish, frogs, and sometimes birds.


Catfish surprise! Snake snags massive scaly lunch in the bayou

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