Snake eats toad

[Nancy Bell]

Found this snake (Xenodon neuwedii) while looking for birds in Intervales State Park in Sao Paulo State, Brazil. We heard this rustling at our feet and finally located this snake struggling to pull the frog back into deeper vegetation. From what I read this species specializes in eating toads. Our bird guide told us that the toads bloat up like this as a defensive mechanism hoping the predator will give up trying to swallow something so large. Difficult to get a clear shot, but for me this was an amazing sight to see. Intervales is in the rain forest and indeed it rained...nearly nonstop for the 4 days we were there. Other than that it is a fabulous place to bird watch.

Canon5D Mark III, Canon 400 f4 DO IS lens, ISO 2000, f5.6, 1/400, exp. comp. +2/3

[Mitch Haimov]

Welcome back, Nancy. That toad certainly does look tough to swallow. Great job catching the action--and almost completely unobscured, sharp on the eye, adequate DOF. Those "hands" add to the drama of the moment, so it's great that they are both fully sharp. Snake's body curves back into the frame rather than exiting, good exposure, does not appear noisy at ISO 2000. This is VWD! My only recommendation is to darken some of the brighter areas on the sticks, particularly the larger broken one upper left as it leads my eye right out of the frame.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Wow what an experience, did the toad survive or was he swallowed? I am impressed by the excellent image quality at ISO 2000, attention on the snake and toad is commanded by the snake's eye contact and the toad's feet. I would consider toning down a few bright leaves and twigs, i think that would enhance presentation a little.

[shane shacaluga]

Amazing image! The snake has that look as if it was caught raiding the fridge!! :bg3:

Very well done. Agree on toning down the brighter leaves

[Nancy Bell]

Thanks all! I'll work on toning down the bright stuff around the edges. The snake continued to pull back into the vegetation but the frog was captive as long as I could see. I imagine the snake is used to waiting out the frog's behavior. Since I did not want to disturb the snake I did not explore and really don't know how long this snake was. Also I did not know whether it was poisonous and just assume no snakes are to be approached! But I did want to see more.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Nancy. How fortunate you were to see - and photograph this behavior! I read somewhere that some snakes have teeth that gradually penetrate the toad's skin and pop the balloon (so to speak) - thus defeating the toad's defense mechanism. Given the habitat, you got a nice view, with good sharpness, of both species. I would agree with toning down the brightest areas. A very nice behavioral image!