Natural Nutmeg

Birdwatchers are loving this really cool video making the rounds of the internet.  Take a look at it first…click here to see the video … before reading any further.  What do you think this crazy woodpecker is trying to do ! ?  Get killed or what ? !

Here is the scoop.  And okay, it is not Connecticut, but battles like this one go on every day among our animal friends right here too.

In the video this female crimson crested woodpecker has been filmed repeatedly attacking a 10 ft olive whipsnake which invaded its nest on Peru’s Yarapa River in the Amazon.

The featherweight battler made repeated attempts to drive the snake out of the tree and was bitten by the lightening-quick reptile five times. On each occasion the snake held the much smaller bird in its mouth and then let it fall to the ground below. After a fight lasting four minutes, the wounded bird left the area and is likely to have died of its injuries or been killed by a predator.

For the woodpecker to have been so tenacious, it is most likely the snake was stealing eggs or attacking chicks in the woodpeckers’ nest. It is thought the snake was looking for eggs or chicks and the woodpecker arrived to find it had moved in while she was away. If you take a look at the very beginning of the video when the snake first appears out of the woodpecker hole, you will see it seems to have just swallowed something and you can see an egg shaped bulge in its neck.

An incredible nature battle caught on video !

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