Can you spot the 10ft snake hidden in this car tyre?
CAN you spot the 10ft snake hidden in this car tyre?
The sinister python used its camouflage to hide inside the tyre after killing a family's pet cat in Thailand.
The blood-thirsty reptile hid amongst leaves and soil and it is still a challenge to spot it in the photo even when you know it is there.
But cool-headed fireman Jirawat Iamlamai, 28, had no problem catching it when he got a call for help.
He was contacted by Harithat Krueyai, 46, yesterday after her pet cat went missing in Ang Thong, central Thailand.
Mr Imalamai, who turned up in a red vest with "snake wrangler" tattooed onto his right shoulder, suspected a reptile had eaten it.
He found the 10ft long snake coiled up in a tyre before he reached in with a single hand and plucked it out.
Python factfile
Pythons are a constricting snake which feasts upon victims by coiling itself around them until they suffocate.
There are 41 species of python according to the Reptile Database and are found in Asia, Africa and Australia.
They mainly feast on small mammals and birds and will not usually attack humans unless they feel threatened.
Pythons stay in relatively warm, wet climates.
Many species are strong swimmers.
Some can hold their breath for 30 minutes before surfacing.
But they can't travel on land faster than one mile per hour.
They move by stiffening their ribs for support against the ground then lifting their bellies and push themselves forward in what is known as a “rectilinear progression” movement.
Some can live for 25 years or longer while the maximum lifespan is estimated at 35 years.
Jirawat said that increasing numbers of snakes are searching for food and shelter in buildings due to rainstorms sweeping across the country.
He said: "We have been called out to a lot of snake cases recently, so it's important that people do not disturb them or try catching them by themselves as they can be very dangerous."
Pythons are non-venomous constricting snakes which usually feast on small mammals and birds by grasping its victim with their sharp teeth, coiling their bodies around the animal and squeezing until it suffocates.
They will not usually attack humans unless they feel threatened.
The National Geographic has estimated that Burmese pythons, native to Southeast Asia, can grow to a terrifying 23ft and weigh up to a staggering 200 pounds.
It has not been confirmed which species the python found in the tyre is.
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Last month a schoolboy was strangled to death by a massive snake while hiking with his friends in Indonesia.
And in May horrifying pictures showed a hungry python devour a poor possum in an Australian backyard.
But a Gloucestershire dad last year showed he had no fear as he told how he kept an 18ft pet python called Hexie which feasts on goats and deer at the family home.
