The Rock Python is Africa's largest snake. Reports state that the Rock Python is invading the state of Florida in USA after the escape of pythons kept as pets. So will scenes like this shown in the video become commonplace in Florida?
In this video a huge rock python is constricting and ingesting a fully grown male Thomson's gazelle (Tommie). This process took some time, starting late afternoon and continuing until nightfall on the Bila Shaka Plains of the Masai Mara in Kenya. It is a rarely observed event , and unusual for rock pythons to be seen out on the grassy plains.
The rock python successfully ingested the the Thomson's gazelle as its mouthparts and digestive system are designed to cope with such prey, including the horns which are squeezed against the neck of the gazelle and not into the python. It took so long for the python to ingest the gazelle that it was getting dark and it is illegal to be on the Masai Mara at night, so we had to get back to camp before it had finished swallowing it .... that is why we had to stop filming. .... by the following morning the snake had moved off to a quiet spot to digest its meal.
