Townsville snake catcher captures moment frog engulfs taipan

A Townsville snake catcher captured the “once in a lifetime” moment a huge green tree frog swallowed one of the world’s most venomous snakes.

A green frog eating a coastal taipan at Stuart. Photo: Jamie Chapel

A Townsville snake catcher captured the “once in a lifetime” moment a huge green tree frog swallowed one of the world’s most venomous snakes.

Jamie Chapel, owner of Snake Take Away and Chapel Pest Control, was left in awe after he was called out to catch a snake at Stuart on Tuesday.

A green frog eating a coastal taipan at Stuart. Photo: Jamie Chapel

“I spoke to a lady about a taipan at a property. When I was on the way there she told me it had been eaten by a frog,” he said.

“The frog was nearly about the size of my hand, so quite large. The snake would have been about 25cm.”

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Green tree frogs are one of the largest Australian frogs and have been known to eat large prey including mice. They have even been recorded catching bats around cave entrances.

The frog engulfed the snake before Mr Chapel but it did not come away unscathed.

Mr Chapel said the frog was bitten by the taipan, regarded one of Australia’s deadliest snakes.

“I took him home and put him in the rehab tank. I didn’t want him to regurgitate a live taipan at the lady’s property,” he said.

He said the frog had changed colour following the bite but was still alive.

In 2018 Mr Chapel rescued a green tree frog after it had been swallowed and regurgitated by a snake.

This time however, Mr Chapel let nature take its course.

“I did think about it (rescuing the snake) because I honestly thought the frog was going to die,” he said.

Mr Chapel said coastal taipans were relatively uncommon in Townsville.

Originally published as Townsville snake catcher captures moment frog engulfs taipan