Firemen are being called out every 15 MINUTES to catch snakes as heavy rain flushes them out of their hiding places in Bangkok.

The deadly reptiles have thrived in the city's sewers and canals where they eat cats, dogs, rats and chicken. There are now believed to be millions living underground in the sprawling concrete jungle.

However, particularly heavy rain over the last few months which has caused more severe flooding than in previous years has seen large numbers of pythons being found in gardens.

Dramatic footage shows firemen Pinyo Pukphinyo as he was called out to remove a constrictor tangled in a family's net fence after eating a bird on Wednesday September 14.

The expert snake handler warned that more snakes are now appearing because of the floods, which many believe will worsen each year with freak storms, rising sea levels and blocked drains.

Pinyo said: 'This amount of snakes is due to heavy rain and floods. Actually, snakes are everywhere underground, we just don't see them.

'But the floods leave them nowhere to stay, snakes don't like water so they escape floods to people's houses.'

'That's why we see them a lot during this rainy season.'

Figures released last month showed that between January and July this year there were 22,576 emergency calls made by people who had found snakes or lizards.

Call centre operators say there are around 200 a day - more than half of which are for snakes. They said that the calls for snakes are received every 15 minutes - leaving firemen stretched as they respond to threats from the creatures, which are capable of killing a human.

Dr Alongkorn Mahanop, an adviser to the Zoological Park Organization told local media that pythons - which make up the majority of the snakes in Thailand - have thrived because 'they have no predators'.

He added: 'Although no official survey has been conducted in Bangkok, the high population of snakes is due to its citizens not consuming snakes, which mean snakes have no direct predators while having an abundance of prey such as dogs, cats and chickens.'

The rising danger of snakes emerging in buildings was shown this week when a female office worker was attacked by a python which bit her on the leg as she walked through a hallway of the building in Bangkok on Monday.

The stunned woman was seen wriggling in pain as she quickly ran away from the scene of the attack inside the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation. Pictures taken after showed the deep wound on her foot.

Pinyo advised anyone who encounters snakes to stay well back and call the emergency services.

He said: 'If you encounter a snake but are far enough away from it, you are safe. You simply keep an eye on it till the specialists arrive.

However, if you are really near to it, you should stay calm and not panic, the snake will just slither away.'