Green Frog in the local creek.
------Spoiler Alert------
If you got this far and are rooting for the frog, you should probably move on to the next post. I got out my macro lens so these photos are up close and a little graphic.
A medium sized Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis) managed to sneak up on a Green Frog (Lithobates clamitans). One leg was already in the snakes mouth when I stumbled on the scene.
Detachable jaw? Not really, this is a common myth. Snakes jaw is just connected differently than ours which allows it flexibility to open surprisingly wide. Getting the second leg was quite a struggle. The snake and frog both were exhausting themselves battling at this point. And both would rest for periods of time before resuming the struggle.
Once the snake got the second leg, it was just a matter of time. I thought the frog would get away up to this point. I was amazed at the strength of the snake. I expected a frog kick to be more powerful than the snakes ability to hold on. The snake often repositioned its body to maintain its purchase.
Not much progress since the last photo. I zoomed this in so you can see the blue scales in the garter snake pattern. The blue really became apparent when the snake's body was stretched. Its normally hard to see the blue.
The frog hasn't giving up yet. In this shot, you can see the frog puffing up its body trying to be (or at least look) too big to swallow. If you compare to the last couple of shots, the frog is now much wider than snake head vs about the same in previous shots.
Getting closer. From the time I first noticed the snake and frog, it took three hours for the snake to completely swallow the frog.
Early on there was a lot of back and forth as the snake would try to pull the frog up the bank and the frog would push with its legs trying to get away. At this point the snake was opening and closing jaws trying to get a little more frog inside mouth and undulating its body trying to work the frog further into its stomach.
Only front legs still showing.
Meal complete.
Thanks for checking out my post. I was so excited to get to see this little bit of the battle for life in #amazingnature.
