TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A rare snake died while attempting to eat a giant centipede at a South Florida park, according to the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.
Researchers said a hiker found the rare snake at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Pictures showed the snake dead with the rear portion of a centipede protruding from its mouth.
“The state-threatened rim rock crowned snake lives in pine rockland and hammock habitats in eastern Miami-Dade County and the Keys,” FWC said in a Facebook post.
Researchers said the snake usually grows between 7 and 9 inches long, but is rarely seen because it lives under rocks, debris, or in limestone cavities. The post also mentioned the unusual sighting represented the first food record of any kind for the little-known species.
FWC speculated the snake tried to eat a juvenile Keys giant centipede, which can reportedly reach the size of a crowned snake in its adult form.
“Crowned snakes are usually immune to the venom of centipedes, whose bites are painful to humans, but something went wrong during this encounter,” the Facebook post stated.
The snake, along with the centipede, will soon go into the Florida Museum of Natural History collection.