An Australian couple was hanging out at their home recently when they came upon a shocking sight.

Paul and Anne Mock live in the western Australian town of Kununurra, and it was there that they spotted a dozen venomous cane toads appearing to hitch a ride on the back of an 11.5-foot python. The Mocks explained that there had just been heavy rain in their area and “the lake was so full it had filled the cane toad burrows around the bank and they were all sitting on top of the grass – thousands of them.”

It was Paul who first saw Monty, the large python that lived on the residence, slithering toward him in an attempt to flee the water.

“He was in the middle of the lawn, making for higher ground,” Paul recounted. “He was literally moving across the grass at full speed with the frogs hanging on.”

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Thinking fast, Paul’s brother Andrew snapped a photo of 10 toads on the python and posted it on social media, where it quickly went viral.

“68mm just fell in the last hour at Kununurra. Flushed all the cane toads out of my brothers dam. Some of them took the easy way out – hitching a ride on the back of a 3.5m python,” Andrew tweeted alongside the image.

Internet users everywhere were shocked and puzzled by the image, so Jodi Rowley, a senior lecturer in biological sciences at the University of New South Wales and amphibian expert, stepped in to offer an explanation.

“This is one of the most amazing videos I’ve seen!! Lots of *very* horny Cane #Toads (Rhinella marina) trying to mate with a large Olive #Python (Liasis olivaceus), with Giant Burrowing Frogs (Cyclorana australis) & Red Tree #Frogs (Litoria rubella) calling in the background!” she tweeted.

 

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