Colleen Austin tells of close encounter with green tree snake

The distressed cries of a frog alerted a Maryborough resident to the presence of a slippery visitor in her garden. Spoiler alert: things did not end well for the frog.

A green tree snake made short work of a frog in a Granville backyard.

The brutality of nature’s food chain has been captured in a stunning photo taken on a Granville veranda.

Colleen Austin, 89, takes great pride in her garden.

But she got a shock when she was watering her plants this week and discovered a green tree snake eating a frog in a plant on her veranda.

It wasn’t the first time she had seen the creature.

“The first time I saw the snake, it was crawling on the outside of a glass window of my closed-in veranda,” she said.

A green tree snake made short work of a frog in a Granville backyard.

“I approached the window to see what it was and it turned and got in the window tract, which was too small for it.

“Then it disappeared.”

But then it returned to her veranda, making a home among her plants.

Mrs Austin was alerted to the snake’s presence when it appeared the second time when she heard the distressed cries of a frog.

When she went to investigate, she saw the snake in one of her pot plants eating the frog.

As it ate the frog then digested its meal, Mrs Austin was able to get photos of the encounter as the snake rested among the plants.

A green tree snake made short work of a frog in a Granville backyard.

She contacted a snake catcher as she was concerned for her small dog.

But Drew Godfrey from Hervey Bay Snake Catchers was able to put her mind at rest.

He said the snake was far more likely to be harmed by a dog than to do any harm itself.

Mr Godfrey said unlike other snakes, which were quite shy and quick to move away if disturbed, green tree snakes were quite sociable in comparison.

He said seeing a green tree snake was akin to seeing a butterfly in the wild and was equally harmless for people - although maybe not for green frogs.