Bindi Brunch

Patty Buntine was mystified when her three-year-old Maltese terrier cross Bindi disappeared from her home in Australia's northern territory. But a quick calculation by a professional snake catcher soon provided the answer.

The 10-foot long olive python with the enormously bulging tummy weighed 35 pounds. Usually it would weigh about 21 pounds, meaning that whatever it had swallowed weighed 14 pounds-- roughly the size of poor little Bindi. There is one more piece of compelling evidence. Since the snake showed up in Buntine's back yard Bindi hasn't been seen.

"She didn't show up for her routine breakfast at 7 am and because she was always there I got worried and went to look for her," Buntine told reporters. "I went around the side of the house and that's when I found the snake. It couldn't move and had its head up in a striking position."

Snake catcher David Reed agreed that Bindi was in the snake's stomach. He said the olive python - a species which are harmless to humans - had consumed 60 per cent of its body weight in a single meal. Once the snake has digested its canine meal, it will be released back into the wild - a long way from houses that have small pet dogs.