A bitter quill to swallow

The four-metre African rock python was found beneath a rocky ledge at Lake Eland Game Reserve in South Africa.

Its innards had been lacerated by dozens of quills from the porcupine while trying to digest its meal.  

Reserve general manager Jennifer Fuller said: 'The exact reasons for the snake's death are not clear.

'It is apparent that several porcupine quills were lodged inside the digestive tract. It had fallen off the rocky ledge.

'We don't know if it died beforehand or whether the fall drove some of the quills into its digestive tract.'

While some predators will be warned off by the visual threat displays of a porcupine, many snake species rely on thermal or chemical sensory mechanisms to ambush prey at night.

(dailymail.co.uk)