By JULIAN GAVAGHAN

Last updated at 16:54 07 May 2008

This amazing X-ray picture shows the skeleton of a kitten inside a python's stomach after being devoured in one gulp by the predator.

Eight-week-old tabby Kohl was seized by the slithering assassin while in the garden of her owner's home in Australia's tropical Northern Territory.

The snake was found with a "bulging belly" by 14-year-old Taara McLaren after she ventured out to feed her pets at 7am yesterday.

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X-ray: The picture clearly shows the kitten, Kohl, inside the python's stomach

Despite Kohl having a skull three times the size of the 5ft-long python, the reptile was able to dislocate its jaw to swallow the kitten after wrapping itself around and strangling its prey.

Three other kittens from the same litter and five adult cats were unable to stop the savage attack in Darwin suburb of Tiwi.

Cat owner Asha McLaren told The Australian newspaper: "It wasn't a very nice feeling to think that this happened in our back yard.

"My daughter went out to feed the cats and they normally all come running at the sound of the dish, but Kohl was missing.

"She then looked around and saw the snake. She called out to me, saying there was a big snake and that she thought it had eaten Kohl.

"When I went out I couldn't believe it. It had a bulging belly and when we couldn't find Kohl anywhere it was obvious he'd been eaten.

"It was very sad as he was my favourite. He was just gorgeous."

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Bulging: Handler Gordon Canning holds the snake who will take a week to digest its prey

Ms McLaren said they quickly put their other cats in the house and snake catcher Gordon Canning was called out to collect the python.

He said it was unusual for a python to target a cat, but the kitten did not have a chance against the reptile.

He said pythons usually strike at their prey and squeeze it to death before devouring it whole.

"The cat would have been suffocated within minutes," he explained.

"The snake did well - usually it is the other way around with snakes falling victim to cats."

Mr Canning said the snake would be kept at the Ark Animal Hospital in Yarrawonga until it digested its feed.

"At the moment it cannot move very quickly so it could easily be targeted by predators," Mr Canning said.

"Once it has finished digesting the cat, which will probably take about a week, we will release it back into the wild."

Mr Canning urged people to be cautious in their back yards as snakes were on the move as the breeding season nears.

He has been called out to catch more than 100 snakes since becoming Darwin's first 24-hour snake catcher three weeks ago.