The incredibly rare moment is captured when a rescued kingsnake in Pennsylvania nearly eats half of its own body before a rescuer stops the self-cannibalizing serpent last Friday (August 9).

"I've never seen a snake try to eat himself, I've worked with reptiles for 15 years and I've never seen this," said Jesse Rothacker, who runs the Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary in Pennsylvania.

Forgotten Friend has a motto of "give reptiles a chance," encouraging people who view their Facebook page or their website (forgottenfriend.org) to view reptiles as animals who deserve a second look.

"We see them bite themselves regularly, like a snake that eats other snakes such as this kingsnake, but to see them really try to eat themselves is really unusual. It's rare but not unheard of," said Rothacker to Newsflare.

Kingsnakes are nonvenomous, opportunistic predators that normally kill their prey by constriction. They are known to eat other snakes—including venomous rattlesnakes—and sometimes mistake their own tails for food. Normally, they take a bite then realize their error.

Jesse Rothacker discovers a kingsnake attempting to eat himself! Jesse tries to convince the snake to stop eating his own tail, and eventually the snake lets go after swallowing nearly half of his body.