WATCH: Richards Bay resident witnesses snake hunt in garden

Veldenvlei residents got the fright of their lives on Tuesday when they witnessed a brown house snake taking down a bird python-style at their bird feeder.

Dionne’ Beneke sent us this video showing the snake ingesting the small bird after it had killed it.

In the video, the snake can be seen emerging from what appears to be a hole in the ground to grab the dead bird, and retreating back into the hole once it had ingested its meal.

Confirming the species, expert snake handler Peter Daniel, brown house snakes are basically ‘baby pythons’ with the same hunting methods and prey, they just don’t grow to the size of the latter.

Brown house snakes are commonly found throughout South Africa. While they are drawn to human dwellings, they are completely harmless to people. They are useful in that they feed on rats, mice and lizards.

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