A mammoth 17ft reticulated python was caught lurking near a villager's house in southern Thailand.

The humongous beast was spotted by terrified resident Tum, 59, while she was checking her palm trees in Krabi province on August 11.

The local said she heard a strange noise and walked over, only to find the python thrashing on the ground as it was ensnared by a fishing net.

Panic-stricken Tum ran back to her house to call the local animal rescue department for help removing the predator.

The volunteers arrived at the scene and cut the net loose while holding the snake's head down with a snake pole. They measured the gigantic reptile and found that it was around 17ft long and weighed a whopping 104lbs.

The python was stuffed inside a sack and released into the wild away from nearby homes.

The relieved homeowner said: 'I was surprised to see the python here in this area. My house is close to the sea so I didn't expect one to show up here. It was so big. I'll never be able to forget its size.'

The reticulated python is found throughout Southeast Asia, where they live in forests, swamps, canals and even in cities, causing them to come into conflict with humans. The species is one of the world's largest snakes and can eat humans, cats, dogs, birds, rats and other snakes.