A brawl between an eastern brown snake and a python over a juicy rat turned deadly last week — at least, for two parties involved.

But pythons can eat their whole body weight if Secor has enough rats on hand. In those cases, their metabolic rate can soar by 4,400%, the highest ever recorded for an animal.

In a "crazy turn of events," a snake that was attacking a rat turned out to be the meal of another snake that came into the picture.

The incredible success of invasive pythons in the Everglades has proven to be a boon to cotton rats. New research indicated that if the snakes are present, foxes, bobcat and other furry predators a… ...

One is that because cotton rats are always present, there’s always going to be something for the pythons to eat — they won’t eat themselves out of a prey base.

Reticulated and Burmese pythons typically feed on smaller mammals like rats and mice but will also eat poultry and other birds if they can get them.

But pythons can eat their whole body weight if Secor has enough rats on hand. In those cases, their metabolic rate can soar by 4,400%, the highest ever recorded for an animal.

But pythons can eat their whole body weight if Secor has enough rats on hand. In those cases, their metabolic rate can soar by 4,400%, the highest ever recorded for an animal.

Eat Rat, Make New Body: Easy Stuff for Pythons The extreme metabolism of some snakes could provide leads on how to regenerate human tissue.

Pythons and several other kinds of snakes regularly eat a quarter of their body weight at once. Sometimes a meal will outweigh them. Over the next few days, they break their prey down and absorb ...