With a mixture of horror and fascination, I watched as a large black snake slowly ingested a Southern Leopard Frog (Lithobates sphenocephalus) that it had caught on Friday at Huntley Meadows Park. The frog was struggling and crying out loudly and then suddenly it was free. The lucky frog hopped away and the snake could only tell its friends about the one that got away.
When I first spotted the snake, it was holding the frog in the air. It appeared to have grabbed the frog by one of its back legs and was trying to adjust the frog so that it could swallow it. Unlike a Great Blue Heron that swallows its prey in a single gulp, the snake has to pull its prey in slowly. Little by little the snake seemed to get more of the frog’s leg in its mouth.
The frog continued to struggle, seeking to get some leverage so that it could pull its way out of the snake’s death grip. I didn’t see exactly how it happened, but all of the sudden the frog was free. It almost looked like that snake had released the frog, though that just seems so unlikely to have happened. Whatever the case, the frog was extremely fortunate—all of the previous encounters that I have observed between snakes and frogs have ended with the frog inside of the snake.
I was shooting with my macro lens, so I couldn’t zoom in closer, but I did manage to capture a sequence of shots that show some of the action.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Great shots, great action!!!
Thanks. A lot of luck and some quick reactions were pretty much what it took to get those shots.
Speed and luck is a magic combo in wildlife photography indeed – and it’s always great, almost a relief, when the photo’s turn out to be great!
What a lucky frog for sure! Eaten alive seems like a truly horrible way to die.
I totally agree about that being a pretty gruesome way to go. I try to document what I see when I am trekking about with my camera and realize that some folks may be a little disturbed by some of my images–that seems to be the case especially with snakes and spiders.
Absolutely, they are some of the hardest creatures to love, but I love both. My heart goes out to the frog, but I know the snake has to eat too… and its the only way it knows how.
What incredible documentary shots. You really are privy to some fascinating behavior and incidents in nature and I’m very glad you share them here for the rest of us. That is one very lucky frog.
Thanks, Laura. I somehow manage to see all kinds of cool things and, when I am fortunate, to capture them with my camera. I don’t consider myself to be particularly skilled nor do I have the greatest gear, but I am unusually patient and persistent, and that helps me more than a longer lens or a better camera would.
I think you create your own luck through your knowledge, experience and skill. You know where to be and what to look for and you have the talent to capture what you observe.
That frog has quite a story to tell its friends!
High drama at Huntley Meadows, excellent shots.. 🙂
Great action shots, Mike. A lucky frog, indeed, or perhaps it secreted some really bad tasting slime??
Now that is a real happy ending for the frog at least, Mike! Fabulous record of the event, too!
For the frog, yes, it’s a great outcome, while the snake, alas, ended up empty-handed. (Of course the term “empty-handed doesn’t quite fit a snake, but you know what I mean.) 🙂
🙂