Huge Snake That Had Just Swallowed Cat or Possum Found Under Car

A huge snake that had recently swallowed a cat or a possum whole was found digesting its prey under a car in Australia.

The carpet python was found at a home in Burpengary, a town in the Moreton Bay Region of Queensland, on January 24, with a massively swollen stomach.

Officers from snake rescue service, Josh's Snake Catching and Relocation, took a photograph of the snake once they arrived to remove it.

The carpet python was pictured underneath a car, resting after its recent meal. In the photo, the python's stomach looks to be double its normal body size.

Josh Castle, founder of Josh's Snake Catching and Relocation, who attended the call out, told Newsweek: "Carpet pythons often eat stuff that looks far too big for them, the snake could easily go six months without another feed if needed.

"[I'm] pretty sure it ate a large possum, I originally thought a cat, but the customer said he does have possums close by, So either or. [The snake] was probably slightly bigger then a average size, explains his big appetite."

Carpet pythons can grow up to 13 feet in length although the average size is around seven feet. They hunt by ambush, waiting for their prey to pass by. As carpet pythons are non-venomous, they kill their prey by constricting and suffocating, before swallowing it whole.

These pythons mostly feed after dark, and usually eat smaller animals such as rats and birds, however occasionally will target larger animals such as cats, dogs and possums.

If prey is too big for a carpet python, it will not usually swallow and spit it back out. If the snake does manage to swallow prey that is too large, it will try to regurgitate it or it could die.

Carpet pythons are found almost everywhere in Australia except Tasmania. They live in a wide range of habitats from the wet tropics to near arid desert. The expansion of housing developments has meant they now often come into contact with humans, and can be attracted to properties by the presence of small pets like birds and guinea pigs.

People in Australia commonly find carpet pythons in and around homes, especially in the "snake season", which lasts from October to April.

Another carpet python was recently found lurking in an age-car facility in Queensland.

The snake catcher, Stuart McKenzie, arrived to remove the snake which had hid in the bushes outside the facility. Scared workers gathered around the snake catcher while he removed the huge serpent from its hiding place.

Carpet pythons are secretive and usually well camouflaged with olive to brown skin. Cream blotches on its skin allows them to hide among leaf litter in tree hollows, logs and rocky crevices.

Update 01/27/22, 3:54 a.m ET: This article was updated to change the name of the business to Josh's Snake Catching and Relocation.