A few days ago, I saw this Diamond Python on Manly North Head near Sydney. The snake has recently had a meal, hence the thickening in part of the body. I’ve drawn a rough outline in a copy of the picture, so that you can see the shape of the snake more clearly.

The snake’s head is resting on its body near the middle of the picture. The snake lies mostly straight, with just one bend at the bottom of the picture. It’s well camouflaged, even though it’s lying out in the open to bask in the sun and digest its meal.

Diamond Pythons are just one of several types of pythons found in Australia, and are native to south eastern New South Wales. They’re large snakes, growing up to three metres long. They aren’t venomous, though they do have teeth and can bite. They lie in wait for their prey, and kill it by squeezing it to death. They eat the animal whole, then digest it once it’s inside their stomach. That’s what’s made the large bulge in this particular snake.

If you’d like to hear the story of another of these snakes, take a look at a Diamond Python in a Banksia tree.