Wince-inducing footage appears to show a snake writhing in pain after being pierced with a porcupine’s spike after attempting to eat it.
A video captures the boa constrictor squirming as dozens of white quills protrude from its skin in Brazil.
The impaled reptile had apparently attempted to eat the porcupine – but came off worse when the animal defended itself with its quills.
Video: Live boa constrictor studded with quills after porcupine attack
The snake slithers and thrashes for almost two minutes, while a man records its pain.
Things got even worse for the reptile when the filmmaker’s dog bounded over and started barking at it.
The wounded snake was forced to coil around to defend itself against the canine.
The teeth-clenching footage was posted on the video-sharing platform LiveLeak last week.
One sympathetic user wrote: ‘Help the poor thing out.’
Another viewer added: ‘Bad day for the snake. Put it out of its misery. Looks painful’
However a third seemed to see the funny side, writing: ‘That’s a new fashion statement!’
Boa constrictors typically consist on a diet of bats, mice, birds and lizards and take approximately four to six days to digest food.
Source: dailymail