It is recommended that you chew a piece of food at least 10 times before swallowing, but this young python snake is clearly not one to listen to internet dieticians.

These incredible pictures captures the moment a python devours a kingfisher in one go, after spending half-an-hour figuring out how to best get it down.

The snake was spotted hunting for dinner in a tree in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, as it caught the bird by surprise.

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Open wide: A young python snake devours a kingfisher bird in one go in South Africa

The snake can be seen wrapping its body around the poor bird, before bending its head backwards over its body in order to swallow the kingfisher whole without getting injured by the sharp beak.

Once the python had figured out how to get the bird down its throat, the entire meal was over in seconds.

The pictures show the snake unlocking its jaw as it uses its limber body to force the kingfisher in its mouth, all in one go.

David Bough, a photographer from the UK, spotted the python snake in the tree while on a safari at Lake Panic in the Kruger National Park.

Big hugs: After catching the bird, the snake wraps its body around it in order to kill it and break its bones

Wrangle: The snake spent some 30 minutes trying to figure out how to avoid getting injured by the sharp beak

Mission accomplished: After bending its beak back over its body, the snake could begin devouring the bird

Birdie num num: It only takes moments for the python to swallow the bird, and soon, only the tail feathers can be seen sticking out of its mouth

He said: ‘Lake Panic always seems to deliver fantastic viewing opportunities.

‘We had been told that there was a python somewhere near the hide and had been there for an hour or so and not seen it, but then we managed to catch a glimpse.

‘We watched for about an hour and a half as the young Python worked out the best way to eat such a large snack, folding the head and beak back over the body to enable it to devour the bird.’

Done and dusted: Once the snake had swallowed the bird, its jaws and head returns to its normal size