A 12ft long python was caught mid-way through eating a pet chicken.
The snake slithered into a garden in Chachoengsao, Thailand, before brazenly poaching one of the owners prized cocks.
The fighting bird - worth 2,700 baht (61gbp) - was bitten by the aggressive snake, which dragged it off into the undergrowth.
Homeowner Jirapong Siysin called rescuers who arrived and found the bird's legs sticking out of the python's mouth.
Sadly, it was too late to save the chicken. The snake was put inside a sack and released into the wilderness several miles away after the incident on April 9 at 6 pm.
Jirapong, 36, said: ''There's a fence around my garden. The snake found a gap through.
''I think the snake came from a pond near the house. I'm shocked it came in the daytime.''
