A massive python was filmed launching out of the water in an unbelievable attack on a deer. The incredible ambush was caught on surveillance video in Maharashtra, India.
The dramatic video begins with a group of deer approaching a pool of water to take a drink. Initially the group seems wary of danger, but soon they relax and continue on quenching their thirst.
The python then strikes in an insanely quick surprise attack, capturing and coiling around the unsuspecting deer. The animal is incapacitated in a matter of seconds.
Pythons are ambush predators that locate prey by both sight and smell. They also have “pits” along their jaws that can sense heat of animals nearby. The snakes hunt by grabbing prey with their teeth, then immediately coiling around their bodies, squeezing them to death. Once the reptiles sense that the heart has stopped beating, they release their grasp and swallow the prey whole. Their loosely connected jaw bones and elastic skin allow them to devour sizable prey, usually head first.
The footage was shared on Twitter by a member of the Indian Forest Service: