A snake strangled and then swallowed a crocodile in an epic winner-takes-all contest that will make Mount Isa locals think twice about taking a dip in Lake Moondarra in the north-east of Australia, news reports said today.

“It was just unbelievable,” Mount Isa resident Tiffany Corlis told the Brisbane Times. “We were sort of thinking that the snake had bitten off a little more than it could chew. But it did. It actually ate the crocodile.”

The 1-metre-long freshwater crocodile was clearly visible inside the snake’s distended stomach.

“You could actually see the crocodile’s ridges, legs and everything inside its belly,” said Corlis, who captured yesterday’s fatal encounter on camera.

Lake Moondarra, 19 kilometres from the mining town of Mount Isa, is a popular picnic spot and location for water sports like canoeing.

Corlis’s graphic images of the massive snake dislocating its jaw to swallow the crocodile whole are likely to deter some from any more bathing.

- dpa