BRAND-NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas – An enthusiast professional photographer just recently snapped a quite incredible photo of nature at work — a huge snake consuming a similarly big fish.
Ed Means captured the snake snacking on his lunch on April 19 while he was basing on a pier in Landa Park wishing to get an image of a Green Heron he’d been seeing.
“I heard a ruckus in the water and the Green Heron took off. And then I noticed something moving on the green mat of algae and river greenery in the middle of the river,” Means informed KSAT. “It was too far away for me to see what I was looking at until I looked at it through my 500 mm camera lens.”
That’s when he identified the Diamondback water snake and his fishy meal.
“It was an amazing sight – something I had never seen before,” Means said. “It was quite dramatic watching this snake slowly swallow this fish. It would seem that the fish would be too big for this snake but snakes are able to dislocate/unhinge their jaws to allow for bigger prey.”
According to the online animal encyclopedia Animalia, Diamondback water snakes are predators and feed upon a range of marine types, consisting of fish.
Diamondback water snakes are usually discovered basking on branches over water, Animalia’s website states.
“They only typically resort to biting if physically harassed or handled. The bite of these snakes is known to be quite painful due to their sharp teeth meant to keep hold of slippery fish,” according to Animalia.
Means informed KSAT he photographs birds and other animals and posts them to his Facebook page.
“It’s strictly a retirement hobby and to keep my Facebook page interesting.”
Copyright 2023 by KSAT – All rights scheduled.
