Snake learns hard lesson trying to eat porcupine

A snake in Brazil got more than it bargained for after trying to make a meal out of a porcupine.

A video showing an enormous boa constrictor writhing on the ground is making the rounds on the web after it was posted to LiveLeak last week. The snake appears to be in serious pain as it is impaled by dozens of porcupine quills that pierced through the reptile’s skin.

The two-minute long video shows the defenseless snake out in the open, clearly hurt but trying to keep potential enemies away. A man filming the incident and a barking dog surround the slowly-moving snake.

With quills covering most of its body, the snake still appears quite threatening, even though it is probably terrified itself.

In a passive move, the snake tries to coil itself up, but the quills seem to get in the way.

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It is unknown what happened to the badly injured boa constrictor, but the animal has garnered plenty of sympathy on social media.

“First time in my life I feel sorry for a snake,” wrote YouTube user Mary C.

“I think this is one of those rare cases when a wild animal should be mercy killed. Very sad,” added Thomas Lavoie.

The typical diet of a boa constrictor is made up of rats, lizards and bats, though this is not the first time porcupines have been on the menu.

In 2015, a South African python died after it tried to swallow a 30-pound porcupine.

The snake did manage to consume the animal, but died after the quills punctured it internally.