Key Points:
- The South African rock python, featured in the video, inhabits multiple locations around southern Africa and is smaller and less colorful than the Northern African rock python.
- While non-venomous, the South African rock python can give a nasty bite. It can grow up to 6 feet long and weigh up to 120 pounds.
- These snakes use their sense of smell to detect prey and consume cane rats, hares, monkeys, and even small antelopes.
So, now we know that pythons are like white Range Rovers! Scroll down to watch the full video of this python seemingly getting very attached to a Range Rover and getting in the way of a group of people who were trying to uncouple their boat!
All About African Rock Pythons
The narrator refers to the snake in the clip below as a South African python. This is a subspecies of the Python sebae (rock python) species named after the Dutch zoologist called Albertus Seba.
The South African rock python is found in locations around southern Africa, (from Namibia to the coasts of Tanzania and Mozambique) and is smaller and less colorful than the Northern African rock python.
Having said that, these guys can grow to around 16 feet and weigh up to 120 pounds – they are solid and heavily built snakes and not the sort of thing you want on your car! They have no venom glands but can give a very nasty bite when they feel threatened.
Grabbing hold of them, as the man in this clip attempts to do, is not a great idea unless you know what you are doing.

©Bruce Crossey/Shutterstock.com
Snake Climbing Onto the Car

©BGSmith/Shutterstock.com
The snake is clearly unhappy about the human company and may feel threatened by the vehicles. It may have been confused by the chemicals/odors that the vehicles and humans were emitting.
They use their sense of smell to detect prey and have a diet that includes cane rats, hares, monkeys, and even small antelopes. There are also reports of them catching monitor lizards and crocodiles. The snake will ambush the prey and then constrict it before swallowing it whole. However, eating very large prey is not always the best plan.
When they have consumed a huge meal, they are swollen and sluggish and this makes them a target for wild dogs and hyenas.
Because these snakes help to control rodent populations, they are of benefit to many farmers.
They have protected status in South Africa and must not be captured or killed. This one slipped quietly back into the undergrowth after its adventure.
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