Australian cane toads hitch a lift on python's back after storm
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Some called it the Outback Uber - ten cane toads have been caught riding a python.
Paul Mock of Kununurra in the far north of Western Australia filmed the bizarre sight after a heavy thunderstorm on Sunday night.
The animals were trying to escape an overflowing dam on the Mock's property when the toads came up with the novel form of transport.
Mr Mock sent the images to his brother Andrew, who then posted them online.
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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. pic.twitter.com/P6mPc2cVS5— Andrew Mock (@MrMeMock) December 30, 2018
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"I went out and the lake had overflowed," he says, and realised the toads, who nested around its edge, were fleeing the rising waters.
"Thousands of toads were all trying to find somewhere to go," he says. "And then I saw Monty our local python with a bunch of hitchhikers on his back."
The snake, which stretches to a length of 3.5m (11'4"), is a regular on Mr Mock's property.
"Monty's well known to us," he says. "He hangs around back of our pool and scares my wife when she's hanging up our washing."
And the python seems smart enough not to have tried to eat his passengers - cane toads carry a deadly toxin which can threaten even larger species like snakes, lizards and crocodiles.
While online some were horrified or even suggested the photo was staged, most jumped at the chance to make jokes.
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When Uber isn’t available in Kununurra you use what you can get— mstevo (@mstevo) December 31, 2018
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Good idea: Riding public transit to eliminate carbon footprints.Better idea: Riding something that leaves behind no footprints.— Tales of De'Aaron Do (@GetterOne) December 31, 2018
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I got next game. pic.twitter.com/jULxCkjQC1— Chris Bohn (@DocBohn) December 31, 2018
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Conservation biologist Jodi Rowley tweeted that .
Ms Rowley posted that the males can get "a bit carried away".
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Male Cane Toads often get a bit carried away. This AMAZING video reminds me of the time I found a Cane Toad trying to mate with a rotting mango in North Queensland! ? pic.twitter.com/g2kUBvOUV1— Jodi Rowley (@jodirowley) December 31, 2018
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