What the hell did these two snakes get up to? Unfortunately, both snakes took the secret to the grave. However, people have been left pretty confused over the photograph, which appears to show a black snake eating its way out of a brown snake that had tried to eat it.

Geoff Mitchell took the photo around three weeks ago in Griffith, New South Wales, after seeing the tangle of snakes by the side of the road. Where else but Australia?

When radio 3AW asked what he thought went on, Mitchell responded: “I tried to research it on the internet and it seems quite common for brown snakes to eat black snakes, but I have seen none where one snake has punched a hole through another...” Mitchell suggested a predator such as a hawk may have inadvertently helped the black snake get out by attacking the brown one.

Dominique Salvestrin‎, who lives near where the snakes were found, sent the image to Australia Zoo via Facebook to ask if they could explain the curious case. The zoo responded, saying: “This is certainly unusual... We can't imagine a black snake climbing into another snake but this entire situation is very strange. We would still suggest that the brown one was eating the black, but we will never know for sure.”