This deer had no chance against a slithering predator

The scene lasts no more than a blink of an eye. In a video posted on Twitter on November 21st, all of nature's ferocity is expressed. A surveillance camera at a nature park in Maharashtra State, western India, captured the lightning-fast attack on a young deer by an adult size Indian python.

A fearsome attack

As the deer came to drink with companions in a seemingly calm and quiet waterhole, it was not likely to suspect the sad fate that was to come upon it. Indeed, hidden under the surface of the water, and hardly visible, a giant python was lurking, ready to attack.

Suddenly, when the deer leaned over to drink, the python appeared from the water and grabbed its prey by the neck, before quickly coiling around it, in order to suffocate it. A common technique for snakes called 'constrictors,' which use their length and immense strength to immobilize their prey and suffocate them before literally swallowing them whole.

Human beings attacked

Usually, this species attacks rodents, birds or small mammals, but often the most massive specimens do not hesitate to attack larger species, such as deer or large mammals. Some pythons have even attacked human beings.

In this scene, it is also the speed of the attack that is impressive. The python, like other aquatic snakes, can reach its prey in less than 50 milliseconds. This is four times faster than the blink of a human eye.