Scientists use camera traps to capture all sorts of wildlife footage – and this time, they’ve recorded a feisty standoff between a big bobcat (Lynx rufus) and an adult Eastern diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus) in Florida.
And while the footage was recorded on grainy trail cams, it looks more like an epic Godzilla vs King Kong battle that you’d see on the big screen.
The photos were taken in 2022 as part of a survey documenting mammal attacks on reptiles, with the ravenous assault unfolding over the course of 38 different frames.
The folks behind the study – researchers from the University of Florida – later published that, in the first few frames, the bobcat surprisingly approaches the snake before biting and clawing at its tail, body and head.
Subsequent images captured on the Bushnell Core trail camera show the results of the vicious attack, with the overturned rattlesnake bearing wounds to the head, midbody and tail. The scientists noted that the rattlesnake did try to retaliate, albeit unsuccessfully.
While rattlesnakes are dangerous to bobcats because the wild cats lack immunity to snake venom, bobcats are equally dangerous to rattlesnakes because they combine lightning-fast reflexes, paw-slapping tactics and precision biting.
According to the researchers, large reptiles such as rattlesnakes often occupy the top of trophic webs (interrelating food chains) and adult mortality through predation is rare.
They explained that because many large reptiles are long-lived, the loss of reproductive adults can have wider implications for species populations. As such, the camera trap footage comes as important documentation of this phenomenon.
What a showdown between a killer kitty and a savage snake, although I really wasn’t expecting it to be such a one-sided affair. Hopefully, these scientists can upgrade to HD camera traps in time for the next royal rumble.
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