When wildlife drama comes to the garden

I always say that the garden can throw up some of the most powerful encounters with wildlife you can have.

So it was last Thursday, when I peered out of the bedroom window to see something writhing on the edge of the pond, attracting the attention of a Crow.

Going down to investigate, I found this - a Grass Snake swallowing a full-grown Frog.

I admit I had mixed emotions. I work hard to make my garden a home for Frogs, and to see one being predated like this elicits considerable sympathy for the Frog's demise.

But this is Nature, the battle to survive, and to have a top predator like a Grass Snake in the garden is also a wonder and a privilege.

It took over ten minutes for the Grass Snake, jaw totally dislocated, to complete its meal.

And with one last gulp, the deed was done.

Indeed, it was astonishing to see how little there was to show that such a feat of swallowing had just occurred - by now, the only sign was a rather fat belly.

(You can clearly see, by the way, the tell-tale yellow and black collar that instantly distinguishes the Grass Snake from our other snakes, the Adder (with its zigzag stripe down its back) and the very rare Smooth Snake.)

And then the snake was off, swimming across the pond, slithering over a log and disappearing into the long grass. And I just sat there awhile in the stillness and silence.