Watching a snake chomp down on a crocodile is not something one sees everyday. Australian resident Tiffany Corlis and other onlookers witnessed a five-hour long struggle between a water python and a three-foot crocodile inside Lake Moondarra. The snake ultimately swallowed the crocodile, but not before a long battle ensued.

According to Corlis the whole ordeal was an amazing display of the brutality that often occurs in nature. “(The crocodile) was fighting at the start, it was trying to keep its head out of water and survive, but as the morning progressed you could tell both of them were getting a little weaker as the struggle was going on, finally the croc sort of gave in.” Corlis said before adding, “It was just unbelievable, we were sort of thinking the snake had bitten off a little more than it could chew, pardon the pun, but it did actually eat the crocodile. You could see the crocodile in the snake’s belly which I think was probably the more remarkable thing. You could actually see its legs and see its scales and everything, it was just amazing.”

Wow u take a pic of a snake eating a croc & it goes global amazing! Think we should put it in our next book. lol pic.twitter.com/8OM8Q8tuQA

— TNT Corlis (@TNTCorlis) March 3, 2014

The battle between snake and crocodile may seem like an epic battle between two of nature’s most notorious beasts; however, the actual size may not be quite so impressive. Terry Phillip, who is the curator of reptiles for Reptile Gardens located in Rapid City, South Dakota, recently spoke with National Geographic. According to Phillip, “These animals aren’t giants. That snake is likely about 15 or 20 pounds [7 to 9 kilograms], and the croc might be 5 to 7 pounds [2 to 3 kilograms], probably three feet [one meter] long. And for these species, native to that part of Australia, this is a very natural event. While that looks like a really big meal, it’s a pretty common one for that type of snake.”

Either way, it was a bad day to be a croc.

Image Via Wikimedia Commons