Snake eats crocodile in a midnight feast with teeth in WA's Kimberley

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Two men driving across a Kimberley river crossing late at night could not believe their eyes when they found a large snake eating a crocodile.

A tangle of scaly bodies caught the eye of Wayne Chevis while he was driving with a friend on Sunday from his workplace at the Lake Argyle Caravan Park to Darwin, to catch a flight to be at a wedding in Tasmania.

"I've never seen anything like that before. I've never seen a snake eating a crocodile, so it was quite eye-opening," Mr Chevis said.

A large python had grabbed a freshwater crocodile at the river crossing on the road to Lake Argyle, and was constricting the reptile with coils of its muscular body.

"The snake, I reckon if you dragged him out and measured him he probably would have been about two-and-a-half, almost three metres long," Mr Chevis said.

"He was quite a big snake, quite thick."

Snake wins this battle

Despite the ferocious reputation of crocodiles, this time the croc was the hapless victim, according to Mr Chevis.

"There were no injuries on the snake at all, so I think the snake had the upper hand completely in that little battle that was happening," he said.

Having grown up in Kakadu National Park where his stepfather was a ranger, Mr Chevis has witnessed snakes eating a range of animals, but never a crocodile.

"I've seen snakes eat crocodile eggs, and of course snakes eat turtles, and geese and other birds, lizards of course and goannas, but I've never seen a snake eating a crocodile," he said.

The photos captured on his phone have been a major talking point since Mr Chevis arrived in Tasmania for the wedding.

"There are a lot of expletive words said about it," he said.

"No one's very keen on snakes and crocodiles down here, let alone a snake eating a crocodile."

Topics: crocodile, offbeat, argyle-6239