Gruesome footage shows a giant centipede eating a live snail - rubbing its pincers together after killing the creature.

The video was taken by farmer Decha Sukprasert while he was walking around his field in Chonburi, eastern Thailand on May 1.

He watched as the dark orange giant centipede coiled around the shell while reaching inside with its painful venom to where the snail was hiding.

Decha said: "This is all part of nature so we should not interrupt them. I just wanted to let the situation continue naturally.''

The giant centipede plunged venomous pincers into the snail then gorged on its slimy innards.

It emerged from the shell and appeared to have been satisfied the meal. The centipede rubbed its pincers, or forcipules,together alongside the lifeless snail.

Decha added: ''The centipede was much more powerful. It reminded me of a hermit crab reclaiming its shell.''

Most centipedes are generally venomous and can inflict painful bites, injecting their venom through pincer-like appendages known as forcipules.