A rescuer grabbed hold of a 13ft-long cobra with his bare hands after it had climbed up a tree to escape nine guard dogs when it slithered into a farm in Thailand.

Tanee Sathee, 59, found the huge cobra lurking under his Durian saplings in Chanthaburi province on December 1.

He tried to stop the ferocious dogs from heading near the creature as they could also be harmed by the deadly snake, but the animals attacked the wild intruder out of instinct.

After suffering several bites, the snake fled to the top of a nearby tree, so Tanee called the animal rescuers for help.

He said: "When I saw the huge snake, I had goosebumps all over my body. The maid scared it away. I'm surprised it managed to escape my dogs."

Reptile handlers arrived at the orchard with a steel hook and a blue plastic container to capture the fierce snake.

The vicious cobra snapped at the rescuers while they tried to pull it down from the tall branches but with the rescuers's expertise, they lured the creature and caught it with their bare hands.

The black reptile curled up on the branches before it was dragged down by the volunteers. They held the king cobra by the head before carefully leading it into the plastic container.

The rescue volunteers found bite marks all over its body from sustained from its earlier battle with the dogs.

The team took the snake into the local reptile centre to rehabilitate before they will release it to the wild later.