A wild snake strangled a baby monitor lizard that was biting its head in return while locked in a fierce Mexican standoff.

The greedy golden tree snake preyed on the juvenile at a family's garden in Nakhon Sawan province, Thailand, on April 14.

But the serpent apparently bit more than it could chew as the fierce baby lizard put out a fight and bit its opponent in the head.

Footage shows the two reptiles locked in the violent natural brawl. The snake wrapped around the lizard to suffocate it while the other creature would not let go of its head.

Onlooker Wimonmas Kaewkangwan said: ‘I would usually see that kind of snake eating geckos but it was the first time I have seen it trying to eat a monitor lizard. What an appetite.'

Eventually, Wimonmas said the two creatures let go of each other. She added she wasn't sure if either creatures survived.

She said: ‘I hope they don't cross paths in my property again.'

A Mexican standoff is a confrontation in which no strategy exists that allows any party to achieve victory. Any party initiating aggression might trigger their own demise.