A huge king cobra ate a smaller snake before being caught down the side of a home.

The 16ft (5m) serpent was slithering through the small space between the house and fence when it ate a juvenile rat snake in Songkhla, Thailand, on January 31.

It was discovered by resident Sanit Srikwan who grabbed his cat with him before fleeing to call rescuers.

Footage shows the reptile being captured by two rescue volunteers. They used a metal catching tool to secure its neck before carrying it out to the street.

One of the rescuers held it by the neck while his colleague secured its tail and they put it in a sack together.

Sanit said: 'I was walking my cat on a leash when we saw the cat. I took my moggy with me and ran for help.'

The snake was released back into the forest without injuries.

Researchers found that 7,000 people are treated for snake bites each year in Thailand. Suchai Suteparuk from the Division of Toxicology at Chulalongkorn University reported that 30 of those die, with cobras being the biggest killer.