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Green tree frog eating keelback snake caught on camera

An Australian couple have recounted the extraordinary moment they came across a 10cm green tree frog as it slowly consumed a keelback snake thought to be about 25 cm long

A green tree frog was captured devouring a keelback snake in Logan. Picture: Melissa MacPherson
A green tree frog was captured devouring a keelback snake in Logan. Picture: Melissa MacPherson

READING LEVEL: GREEN

A green tree frog has been caught on film eating a snake for its dinner.

Lex and Melissa MacPherson were inside their Logan home in Qld at about 7.30pm on Tuesday when their youngest dog suddenly dashed out the dog door and started barking.

Ms MacPherson said her husband went out to check what Feez, their 1-year-old Maremma border collie cross, was barking at because she had a “different type of bark.”

“We were literally sitting inside. There was no notice or anything and she just took off,” she said.

Following Feez outside, Mr MacPherson quickly shouted for his wife to bring her phone after he spotted a 10cm long green tree frog with the head and tail of a keelback snake* inside its mouth.

A Queensland couple were alerted to the frog’s suppertime feast by their one-year-old dog. Picture: Melissa MacPherson
A Queensland couple were alerted to the frog’s suppertime feast by their one-year-old dog. Picture: Melissa MacPherson

In the video, the frog’s stomach can be seen expanding and deflating as it slowly swallows the non-venomous* snake, which was estimated to be more than 25cm long.

Ms MacPherson said it was the first time in 30 years they had seen such a sight on their six acre property.

“We’ve been there 30 years and never seen anything like that, we expected to see a snake eating a frog, not the other way around,” she said. “I actually said ‘What in the frog tarnation is going on here?’

“The frog had the snake in its mouth and I said to Lex, ‘Oh my God, is the frog going to die?’ because (the frog) had saliva in its mouth.

“It had its little front legs with the suction cups wrapped around the snake. It was holding on and not letting go of that snake.”

They were stunned to see the snake hanging out of the frog’s mouth. Picture: Melissa MacPherson
They were stunned to see the snake hanging out of the frog’s mouth. Picture: Melissa MacPherson
It was a big frog and it must have had a big appetite. Picture: Melissa MacPherson
It was a big frog and it must have had a big appetite. Picture: Melissa MacPherson

She said it was “so fascinating to watch.”

It took the frog about half an hour to finish eating the snake.

“The frog was literally just lying there. It was sitting there like a Cheshire cat* eating guts,” she said.

While the frog was still in the middle of its meal, Ms MacPherson posted photos to the Australian Snake Identification group on Facebook.

The post attracted more than 100 comments before the ability to write a comment was turned off automatically due to Facebook settings.

Some people wrote that it was more common to see a snake eating a frog.

One of the group’s moderators* wrote “Frogs are just stomachs with legs. You’d be amazed what they can put away.”

Ms MacPherson said it looked like “a Cheshire cat eating guts.” Picture: Melissa MacPherson
Ms MacPherson said it looked like “a Cheshire cat eating guts.” Picture: Melissa MacPherson

He also later wrote: “If this (green tree frog) hadn’t gotten it, the keelback would’ve eaten the frog and ignored the toads. Keelbacks only eat toads if nothing else is around.”

Marty Mathews from the Queensland Gemfields area said he was impressed with the frog.

“I’m impressed that he made a point to double it over and speed things up!” he wrote.

While a frog eating a snake sounds like a rare occurrence, the incident in Logan wasn’t the first time such an encounter has been captured on film.

In 2017, a green tree frog was filmed devouring a small snake in suburban Townsville.

Local resident Tina Thompson and her partner, Aaron Weinheimer were watching wild ducks leaving their backyard one evening when they spotted the frog eating the snake.

Green Tree Frogs have been photographed eating snakes on other occasions.
Green Tree Frogs have been photographed eating snakes on other occasions.

“He had already swallowed the head so we couldn’t see what type of snake it was,” Ms Thompson told News Corp publication the Courier Mail.

She said it took the frog about two minutes to swallow the entire snake.

“The frog kept using both hands to stuff the snake in its mouth,” she said.

“It just sat there afterwards, breathing heavily like it had a major workout.

“When I looked closer you could still see the head of the snake poking around in the belly of the frog.”

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GLOSSARY

  • keelback snake: a semiaquatic non-venomous snake commonly found in areas close to water such as creeks, riverbanks and rivers
  • non-venomous: not poisonous
  • Cheshire cat: a fictional character from the book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll who is known for its mischievous grin
  • moderators: people who make sure comments posted to a web page or forum are clean and free of spam

EXTRA READING
Male snakes’ wild ‘wrestling match’
Bird versus snake – who will win?
Big-bellied snake goes viral

QUICK QUIZ
1. How long did it take for the Green Tree Frog spotted in Logan to eat the snake?
2. What type of snake was it eating?
3. How big was the frog?
4. How long was the snake thought to be?
5. Where else in Queensland was a Green Tree Frog photographed eating a snake?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. What does Feez think?
Retell the story from Feez’s point of view.

Time: allow at least 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English

2. Extension
Can you find an even more amazing fact about frogs? Use your research skills to find 10 amazing facts about frogs. Use the information you have found to create a poster that will convince people that frogs are the most interesting and amazing creatures.

Time: allow at least 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Science

VCOP ACTIVITY
Read with Kung Fu punctuation
Pair up with the article between you and stand up to make it easy to demonstrate your Kung Fu punctuation.

Practise reading one sentence at a time. Now read it again, while acting out the punctuation as you read.

Read and act three sentences before swapping with your partner.

Take two turns each.

Now ask your partner to read a sentence out loud while you try and act out the punctuation. Can you keep up? Swap over?

Try acting out two sentences – are you laughing yet?