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Alert to the slightest sign of danger, a green tree python keeps watch high in a tree in New Guinea, coiled round her eggs. It is January, and she has been there since she laid them two months ago. The tree reaches a height of some 180 ft (55 m), and its canopy of leaves block out the light. Creepers curl up its massive trunk and bamboo grows thick all round it. This damp, dark, tangle of forest is one of the world's richest rain forests, spreading its thick cloak across New Guinea and the north east tip of Australia. It is home to 12,000 species of plant, 700 species of bird and 180 mammal species. At least 60 in (1524 mm) of rain falls yearly and January is the one of the wettest months.

The green tree python has wrapped herself round her egg to protect them, although she has no poison, she has a good set of teeth, and any egg eating marauders could suffer a nasty bite. But her vigil is almost over. The soft shelled eggs again her bodies are now lumpy with life. Two beady eyes and one blunt snout have already emerged from an egg, soon to be followed by 12 in (300 mm) of slender body. In other eggs, the youngsters have their egg teeth hard at work slicing at the leathery shells. Before long, 15 bright orange babies will have hatched. Then they will be on their own. It is unusual for snakes to show any interest in their offspring after seeing them into the world. Not all take as much trouble as the python many just lay their eggs and leave them.

In pursuit of prey

The newborn python do not need to feed straightaway but their mother has not eaten since laying her eggs, and she is hungry. When night falls, she goes in search of food a sleeping bird or lizard or one of the many forest rodents. Although only 6 ft long, she is an extremely effective predator, a relative of the boas and ground dwelling pythons of Asia, one of which measures up to 30 ft and eats goats and antelopes. The python will pounce on her prey unseen and unheard. On her upper lip she has heat sensitive pits that she can use to locate warm blooded prey, even in the dark.

With her head held still, the hungry female fixes her gaze on a mouse and flows silently over a branch towards it. Then she waits. A mistake could cost her dearly. The animals she eats are equipped with their own weapons and if she is to avoid having her thin, soft scales torn by teeth and claws, she must time her attack on the mouse precisely. In a flash, she sinks her teeth into the mouse's back and whips her body round it. Tight in her coils, the animal dies from suffocation within seconds. The python keeps a firm grip on her food with her backward pointing teeth. Then she stretches her jaw wide and pulls the mouse into her mouth by working the two sides of her lower jaw, which are joined by an elastic ligament independently like two arms hauling on a rope.

The python swallows the mouse whole and lies low for several days while it is digested. Strong gastric juices break down its flesh, bones and teeth, and a ball of matted fur in her droppings will be all that remains.

Learn more about this author, Muhammad Akhir Ariffin.
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