The jungle is neutral

Nature knows no mercy. The fittest may survive, but they need not be the strongest, fastest, biggest or smartest. Some kill with venom, delivering death in swift doses. Others perish in love, the victims of a futile quest for half a chromosome of second-hand immortality.

For some, it's a quick fade to black. But hunters who prefer brute strength to hollow fangs offer a fighting chance for resistance and survival. Alas, the first strike of this Kopstein's bronzeback was enough to squeeze the living daylights out of a large green crested lizard. Skin pierced and head mashed, the reptile that failed to leap through time offered feeble resistance to the vice-like grip of its slender cousin. In an attempt to position its prey for smooth passage, the snake mishandled the plot and briefly gave its game away. But with its strength seeping out through cracks in its skull, the lizard had not the spirit to make good its getaway before the rednecked serpent drove home its desire for lunch and unlocked its jaws to bid its meal welcome to a second life of legless strides through the sunlit treetops.

Comments

[Liz]

Amazing photos. I always find myself rooting a bit for both sides in encounters like this. Strange.

[budak]

thanks! nature knows no mercy, but knows no malice or greed either.

[Kenton and Rebecca Whitman]

Beautiful writing. Found you through House of Herps -- they sure created a great line-up! We're huge snake fans, and that bronzeback has got to be one of the loveliest ever. We've never even heard of them. Thanks for the introduction to a new species!