A boa constrictor was left in agony after attempting to make a meal of a porcupine - but failing miserably, and instead making a meal of the process of preparing the rodent for eating.
Video out of Brazil posted on LiveLeak last week shows the several-metre-long snake wriggling in discomfort while covered in the porcupine's barbed quills.
Rodents make up a large part of the diet of boa constrictors - but it's clear the one in the footage got more than it bargained for when carrying out its normal hunting routine.
In ordinary circumstances, boa constrictors wrap their long, flexible bodies around their prey in an attempt to shut off essential blood flow to the brain and heart.
However in this case, that killing method ended up being almost as painful as it was for the porcupine, as the process of constricting the spiked rodent meant it ended up being impaled by its sharp spines.
A dog that appears briefly in the video causes the snake to curl up, likely resulting in it experiencing even more discomfort.
The porcupine, which may or may not be in the boa constrictor's stomach, could cause the snake several days of pain as the reptiles generally take up to a week to digest their food.
Newshub.
