Due to its immunity to venom, eastern king snakes can safely swallow larger wooden rattlesnakes.

Wood rattlesnakes become a meal for eastern king snakes. Video: Georgia Natural Resources Agency

Tom Slagle, a resident of Haddock, Georgia, captured the unusual sight of two snakes struggling near a mailbox. Slagle begins recording as the king snake enjoys a meal. On June 8, officials from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources shared the video on Facebook.

In the video, the eastern king snake (Lampropeltis getula) slowly moves its flexible lower jaw along the body of a stout wooden rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus). Since the wood rattlesnake doesn’t seem to move, it was most likely killed by the king snake before it was eaten. Wood rattlesnakes are usually 1.8 m long while eastern king snakes are only up to 1.2 m long. The snake swallowed in the video is clearly larger than the king snake, and it could have been heavier.

Many snakes are capable of devouring prey larger than themselves such as deer, cows and even humans. However, this behavior usually does not include larger snakes because snakes tend to eat smaller fellows.

Eastern king snakes are one of several snakes that feed on larger snakes, but their main prey is lizards, rats, birds, and freshwater turtle eggs. This is a predator, hunting by biting near the neck of the prey, curling around the body and squeezing. Although non-venomous, king snakes are immune to the venom of some of the most venomous snakes. This allows them to safely eat rattlesnakes, according to the University of Georgia.

Both species of snakes in the video live throughout the eastern United States, but some populations of eastern king snakes are plummeting. They are on the list of protected species in the state of Georgia.