A Sydney resident has returned home to the shocking scene of a huge snake digesting a meal on the third-floor balcony of their apartment in one of Australia's most populous suburbs.
The shocking footage taken on Tuesday at an apartment in Coogee, in the city's eastern suburbs, shows a diamond-carpeted python wrapped around what appears to be a ringtail possum.
You can see the snake slowly loosen its jaw as it begins to methodically force the possum, about a third the size of the snake, into its digestive system.
After he finished eating, as he looked considerably bigger, he decided to take a rest on the balcony before a snake catcher was called to the apartment.
Peter Khoury, the resident's neighbor and NRMA head of media, told Ny Breaking Australia he was shocked to see such a large snake, not only on such a high balcony, but also in the eastern suburbs given the minimal bushland of the suburb.
A man returned home from a two-week holiday on Tuesday to find a python devouring a ringtail possum on the balcony of his third-floor apartment in Coogee in Sydney's eastern suburbs (pictured)
Mr Khoury said the possum most likely climbed a large tree in front of the apartment complex to flee from the python, which gave chase and attacked it on the balcony.
He said the snake had “food so big it couldn't move” and stayed on site to digest before being interrupted by snake catchers.
“We thought it was someone's pet,” Mr Khoury told Ny Breaking Australia, amazed at how big the animal was.
'You would think that such a large snake would need a lot of bushes to grow. There is a little bit of brush (in the area) but not that much.”
He said his neighbor had been on holiday to the country for two weeks where they said 'they hadn't seen a beetle… but came back to that'.
His neighbor said he was shocked to see a snake of such size in the east of the city as there is little bushland in which it could grow (pictured)
Mr Khoury posted a video of the snake to X, where he received hundreds of comments from shocked Australians.
“Quick sweep with a shovel and the problem on the second floor is solved,” one user wrote.
“I would immediately pack my things and start looking for a new place,” wrote another.
“I'm going to have nightmares tonight,” a third wrote.
Another user said the snake must have been in a “desperate” situation to be able to eat in the open and was most likely starving.
Diamond Carpet Pythons are native to southeastern Australia, from the coast to the Blue Mountains, and have the southernmost habitat of all pythons.
Although they are not venomous and unlikely to attack a human, they can leave a ferocious bite if provoked, but prefer to attack lizards, small mammals and birds.