A leopard looking for a meal has come off second best after it was spiked by a porcupine’s sharp quills while attempting to catch it for lunch.
Wolfie van Eck, a 36-year-old system administrator and amateur photographer captured the incredible images on June 13 while visiting Kruger National Park, South Africa.
Despite the fact leopards often come off second best to porcupines, they are enticed by the creatures and are regularly seen trying to catch them.
After stalking the porcupine for some time, the leopard decided to try its luck only to be pricked on the paw by the creature’s sharp quills
The hilarious interaction began with the leopard watching the unusual-looking creature from a safe distance
Gathering courage, the leopard began following the porcupine as it hastily attempted to trundle away from the predator
Although it had no chance of outrunning the leopard, the porcupine’s huge quills formed a formidable defence
After running out of of patience and ideas on how best to kill the porcupine, the leopard went for the kill
Leopard struggles to get its paws stuck into prickly porcupine
When the leopard decided to test the waters and extends its claws to the lumbering porcupine, it is met with a shock by its sharp quills.
Soon after being pricked on the paw, the leopard realised it was perhaps more trouble than it was worth and beat a hasty retreat.
It comes just days after images surfaced of another instance in which the porcupine’s sharp quills were utilised to remarkable effect.
A python was found dead with quills puncturing its insides after having attempted to eat a porcupine at Lake Eland Game Reserve in South Africa.
Reserve general manager Jennifer Fuller said the exact reasons for the snake’s death were not clear, but it had fallen off a rocky ledge while attempting to digest the creature.
She said: ‘We don’t know if it died beforehand or whether the fall drove some of the quills into its digestive tract.’
Instead of lunch, the leopard was left with a sore paw and it beat a hasty retreat when it realised the meal may not have been worth it
The porcupine also wandered away unscathed after its sharp quills – which have evolved as a defence mechanism – did a successful job