Alien vs Predator: Cane toad eats snake
A BIG mama cane toad has sought vengeance on the Keelback snake.
The slithery reptile is a known predator of cane toads – it can eat toadlets and young toads without being harmed – but in this amazing photo the tables were turned.
FrogWatch NT co-ordinator and Darwin Lord Mayor Graeme Sawyer couldn't believe his eyes when he made the bizarre find at the cane toad research area at Ringwood Station, about 100km south of Darwin, on Sunday night.
He said about 10cm of the 60cm snake was down the toad's throat.
"I was absolutely amazed," he said.
"To see a large female cane toad eating a live snake is unbelievable."
Mr Sawyer said he removed the snake from the toad's mouth and it was miraculously still alive so he released it in nearby bushland.
And the 12cm toad, which was one of many of the amphibians in the area that had their toes clipped as a part of their ongoing research project at the station, is alive and well.
"I don't know what would've happened in the long run, whether the snake would have died or the toad would have been able to swallow it all," he said.
"They are pretty stretchable things but I really don't know."
NT snake wrangler Chris Peberdy said it was an unusual act of nature.
"The keelback is a freshwater snake and is the only snake known in Australia that can eat cane toads and survive," he said.
"It is a known predator of juvenile toads so this definitely shows the tables turned."
Mr Peberdy said keelback's were harmless and were common in the Top End.
He said people often mistook them for western brown's and killed them.
Mr Sawyer said the fact a cane toad took on a snake raised the question: "What are these animals doing to our wildlife and biodiversity?"
"A shot like this showing a cane toad eating a snake that is about 60cm long shows the potential for cane toads to impact heavily on our biodiversity.
"Last year we saw a number of young keelbacks in one spot and a week later they were gone but the adults were still there.
"We reflected at the time on whether the cane toads may have eaten them as they were only about 20cm long."
Mr Sawyer toads are causing huge problems to NT wildlife and not just the ones that die from eating toads.
"We've found a range of animals inside the stomach's of cane toads as part of our research - centipedes, scorpions and spiders have been some of the most common," he said. "It's a big concern."
He urged Territorians to continue the fight to eliminate cane toads by catching them in their backyards and freezing them before disposing of them.