Mouse attacks snake to save friend

At Hangzhou Zoo in Zhejiang province, eastern China, zookeepers witnessed an unusual sight after two live mice were placed in a snake’s enclosure for supper.

Defying the natural order (snake eats mouse, mouse passively complies), this astonishing set of images shows what happens when one plucky rodent is unwilling to let a viper take his friend.

According to the keeper, the second mouse usually hides while the snake devours his or her mate. But after dinner had started, the other mouse attacked the snake and bit him as it tried to kill its friend.

While it was too late to save him/her, the attacking mouse was given his freedom after the keeper felt he’d earned his right to live.