Incredible moment a skinny snake swallows a much fatter lizard head first

But while the stomach churning image may look like a lizard with a snakes head, it actually depicts a white-spotted cat snake devouring a chameleon forest dragon.

The gruesome spectacle was captured by a wildlife photographer who was going for a jungle night walk at Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park in South Sumatra, Indonesia, reports Mirror.

Nicolas Cegalerba, 32, was working for WWF Indonesia when he spotted the snake sneaking up on the ill-fated lizard, which was sleeping on a branch three metres off the ground.

'The lizard had just woken up and was on the last leaf, and after maybe a minute or so the snake caught it by the head. The snake started to swallow it after two or three minutes of shaking to stun the lizard.'

The deceptively thin snake-which measured about 1.8m in length-had no problem opening wide to swallow the chameleon forest dragon, which was about 25cm long.

'We thought it was dead, but even after 20 minutes when the lizard was almost swallowed, it still moved - but that may have just been reflexes,' Mr Cegalerba said.

The French photographer said the snake slithered into a tree afterwards to rest up and digest the hearty meal.

He claimed scouring through jungles at night was the optimum time frame for observing reptiles and amphibians which are harder to locate in the daytime.

'A jungle night walk is one of my favourite activities, as the atmosphere is amazing and it's the best way to find reptiles, amphibians and unexpected species.

(dailymail.co.uk)