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Morelia spilota mcdowelli (hunting Pseudocheirus peregrinus)
Coastal Carpet Python actively hunting a Common Ringtail Possum. Long story short - I was pulling dead fronds out from deep within a golden palm when I saw the snake's tail right in front of me, no more than 30 cms from my face (last photo). Had this been the sharp end, she probably would have bitten me on the face - a sobering thought. I didn't get to see her full length at any one time, but if girth is any indication, I reckon she was about 2 metres long. I've seen enough pythons to be able to make a fair guess. The possum, a fully-grown adult male, I had spotted only a week ago, so I went looking for him knowing the python was moving towards his last known sleeping location. Being nocturnal, possums sleep during the day, but he was already awake and had moved out onto a branch. The python had also spotted him and was moving in for the kill, starting to assume the "strike" posture, and I estimate the possum was no more than a metre from the python before it fled. The later moved further up into the canopy, accompanied by many squawking noisy miner birds. I don't know the current whereabouts of the possum. Needless to say, it was stressful to watch!
Dense palm foliage in a suburban backyard in Brisbane. Snake was first spotted resting in a golden palm. Hot and humid weather which the python would love, and being Summer, all snakes are on the move.
Previous spottings and information on Ringtail Possum - https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/13... and my very first Carpet Python encounter back in March 2011 - https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/22...
Spotted on Dec 31, 2017
Submitted on Dec 31, 2017
25 Comments (1–25)
And that could have been the fate of my possum. He's one lucky boy!
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-31/mo...
Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments. Much appreciated :)
A real Drama perfectly presented, verbally and visually. Kudos!
Great series! Congrats, Neil.
Hi DanielePralong
THANKS! I had no idea.
I thought they were all Opossums (but we all called them Possums )
But I was told by an American... ;-)
Hi Muckpuk! What you have here is a possum, not an opossum ;-)
Opossums: Order Didelphimorphia, found in the New World.
Possums: Suborder Phalangeriformes, native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi.
Both are marsupials (Infraclass Marsupialia).
I gets confusing as opossums are sometimes called possums in parts of the US.
Awesome!!!! I always though Opossum would top the snake but I guess not (I just googled it)
So I hope you will see your opossum again! ( But I also hope you will see the python again)
Incredible spotting, congratulations Neil!
Wow! what a story!
Thank you so much for this lovely surprise. I makes up for all the angst I experienced at the time. Strangely enough, I have not spotted the python since, nor the ringtail. In fact, I haven't spotted any possums at all, ringtail or brushtail. And I haven't seen my tawny frogmouth family either. It's a ghost town in my backyard atm. Many thanks again for the SOTW :)
Great spotting series Neil,congrats on the welldeserved SOTW and thanks for sharing
Way to go bud. Fantastic drama. Thanks for showing us all this one.
Congratulations Neil, this fantastic series with excellent notes has been voted Spotting of the Week:
"There's heart-stopping suspense in our thrilling Spotting of the Week! Look at this image carefully... can you see it? Project Noah member Neil Ross thought it would just be another day of garden tidy-up in leafy suburban Brisbane (Queensland, Australia), when he literally bumped into a Carpet Python (Morelia spilota mcdowelli). If this wasn't exciting enough to justify grabing the camera, the constrictor had spotted the Common Ringtail Possum (Pseudocheirus peregrinus) that Neil had just started documenting the week before. This spotting features multiple shots and excellent natural history notes: check it out and find out how the story ends".
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/projectnoah/pho...
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/projectnoah/status/9...
It was so awful, Mark, and crows were in a nearby gum doing their best "predator" impersonations. Had Jaws or any other cello-playing creature shown up, I would have screamed and fled. It was so stressful and I was hyper-anxious, not wanting to lose my new resident ringtail, and dopey poss was just sitting there like the village idiot :(
I can't watch..
Just needs the sound out of 'JAWS' added...
drrn drn Drn DRn DRN
Great spotting.
Wow, thanks, Ashley. Fingers crossed :)
Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated!
Thanks, Zlatan. It was a stressful way to finish off 2017.
amazing story
Thanks everyone for your comments. I love real life stories too, but this was a really stressful one, and I was so worried for my possum. Yes, snakes have to eat too, but this possum and I were becoming acquainted, and I took some beautiful photos of him only a week ago. I didn't want to see him die this way right in front of me. I couldn't have helped either - it was all happening about 6 metres above my head. He lived to see another day, but then I have tawny frogmouths up in nearby trees, and they are perfect python-sized meals as well. And yes, Brisbane backyard drama at its best! All I wanted to do was some gardening.
Wow! Amazing spotting!
I love spottings with stories attached...2017 is ending on high! CONGRATS
Awesome and hair-raising spotting. I love snakes, but am totally rooting for the possum. What a cool place to live!
Fantastic series Neil, well documented. Brisbane backyard drama at its best! The python needs to eat but one can't help hoping that particular possum got away... The python looks like a sunstantial one. I love the first shot, on magnification you can see the python's heat pits!