Nature might be beautiful, but it’s also completely weird and this next story is a perfect example of that after a snake eel burst out of a heron’s stomach mid flight and was photographed at the exact perfect moment.

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Herons normally spend their time flying around by the beach and eating whatever they come across whole. That’s fine for most of the food they’re consuming, but not when it’s a snake eel because apparently they have the capacity to wiggle around inside their stomach and eventually burst out of it like the titular aliens in the ‘Alien’ franchise.

Sadly there isn’t a video of this happening, but photographer Sam Davis did manage to capture the exact moment the eel burst out of his stomach whilst mid flight, which is an achievement in itself. Get a load of this  – and the even creepier follow up tweet that he put underneath:

IN CASE?!?! #Lunch

“Several juvenile eagles and a fox were following the heron, possibly hoping to scavenge a meal in case the heron or the snake eel didn’t make it…” pic.twitter.com/M0PYPMtGll

— Mike Long (@MikeRichardLong) November 11, 2020

So this is common knowledge amongst animals that the eel might burst out of the heron’s chest at any moment, so they follow it in case they can pick up some cheap dinner? Nuts – how do they even know that?

You also gotta feel sorry for that snake eel. Forcing its way out of the stomach of the heron, only to fall however far down to the ground and then possibly get attacked and eaten by a fox or an eagle or one of the other predators watching on. That’s a tough break, man.

If you’re worried about the heron though, Davis said that it didn’t seem too bothered about the breach in its stomach and was in the water and flying around acting normal. How do they do it?

For more of the same, check out the top 5 deadliest man eating animals by body count. Watch out.