These images show a rubber sculpture, not a real snake

Multiple online posts have shared images that they claim show an actual snake that had purportedly eaten an assault rifle. But the posts are misleading: the images actually show a rubber sculpture created by a Russian artist -- not an actual snake. 

The images have been shared more than 50,000 times since they were posted here on Facebook by a New Zealand-based user.

The post's caption states in part: "Snakes... just be eating anything like why would you eat a whole AK."

The images appear to show a snake that has swallowed an AK-47 model assault rifle.

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A screenshot of the images taken August 2, 2021.

Identical posts have also been shared in 2021 by Facebook users in the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Cambodia.

Comments to these posts indicate some people recognised the images do not show an actual snake while others appear to have been misled.

"Is this real?" one wrote.

 The posts, however, are misleading. 

Reverse image searches found the images were uploaded to Instagram here on August 21, 2019 by Russian artist Vasiliy Slonov.

The Instagram post contains the hashtags: "#contemporaryart" and "#1112gallery".

Slonov confirmed with AFP the artwork is made of rubber.

He said he enjoys when "works of art are interpreted in different ways, when people perceive fiction as reality". 

"I continue to create other works. In this pacifisk [sic] episode, the python will swallow other weapons, as well as mines and grenades," he told AFP on August 3. 

The artwork was also featured on ArtPrice, an art pricing and market website here, and on the website of the 11.12 Gallery where the work was displayed here.

Below are screenshot comparisons of the images in the misleading posts (L) and the photos posted by Slonov (R):

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