Chilling X-rays of a Burmese python that was swallowed by a cottonmouth snake have been released by the Zoo Miami in Florida.
Officials say that the python was being tracked with a device attached to it and was eventually found with the reptile inside the larger cottonmouth, which is native to the state.
The zoo says that the 43-inch cottonmouth consumed the 39-inch python in the Florida Everglades.
The X-rays, which were taken at the zoo’s animal hospital, show that the python was eaten spine-first, and the tracker can also be seen.
“You may have heard in the news about the bobcat that was documented stealing and consuming eggs from an invasive Burmese python in the Everglades,” Zoo Miami captioned the Facebook post.
“But, that isn’t the only native species that is fighting back! A python that had its tracking transmitter implanted by surgeons at Zoo Miami was recently found to be consumed by another snake; a native cottonmouth, also known as a water moccasin.
“You can see the spine and the transmitter of the python inside the cottonmouth on this x-ray, or radiograph, that was taken at Zoo Miami’s animal hospital.”
The zoo says that the tracker was implanted in the young, female python as part of a study by the US Fish and Wildlife Department and US Geological Survey.
Zoo Miami says that the snake was being tracked by those agencies, but that the transmitter was implanted by Zoo Miami surgeons.
Invasive Burmese pythons are not native to Florida and prey on birds, mammals and other reptiles.
The US Geological Survey has linked population declines in native rabbits, foxes, bobcats, and raccoons to the growth of the python population. Female pythons are capable of laying as many as 100 eggs each year.
Since 2000, more than 17,00 pythons have been removed from the Florida Everglades by an annual hunt.
