After a large storm flooded a dam in northwestern Australia Sunday, Paul Mock looked outside to see a bizarre animal alliance.
"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," Paul Mock told Guardian Australia on Monday.
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
Among the toads, there also happened to be an 11.5-foot (3.5-meter) resident python named Monty.
"He (Monty) was literally moving across the grass at full speed with the frogs hanging on," Mock said.
Mock's brother Andrew Mock tweeted a photo of the unusual sight Monday with the caption, "68mm just fell in the last hour at Kununurra. Flushed all the cane toads out of my brother's dam. Some of them took the easy way out -- hitching a ride on the back of a 3.5m python."
If that wasn't weird enough, apparently the male toads were trying to mate with the python.
University of New South Wales biologist Jodi Rowley called video of the "very horny cane toads" one of the most amazing she's seen.
Male cane toads "often get a bit carried away" when it comes to mating, Rowley said in another tweet.
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
Unfortunately, cane toads are an invasive pest in Australia's tropical north, damaging ecosystems and overwhelming native species.
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