Temple visitor fights off snake with steel girder to save puppy in Thailand

This adorable puppy found itself in an unlikely scrape after trying to play with a snake which wrapped itself around its body.

The two-month-old dog was heard whimpering in the grounds of a Buddhist temple in Songkhla province, southern Thailand on November 14.

The harmless golden tree snake - which normally feeds on lizards, bats, and small rodents - had tried to bite off something far bigger than it could chew and coiled itself around the curious puppy, which was trying to play with it.

Luckily, a temple visitor Panida Kanwong, 32, heard the puppy's cries for help and went over to look. She filmed the scene while using a steel girder to prod the green snake away. It slithered away under a building.

The little dog then lay on the ground crestfallen - and a little shaken - as it recovered from the ordeal.

Panida said: ''I had heard the dog crying for about half an hour. But there are often dogs making noises so I didn't think anything was wrong.

''When it kept crying I thought I better go to look. That's when I found the snake around it. It looked like they were playing, but the snake wouldn't let go. The puppy also couldn't escape.

''I think the puppy had been curious and tried to play with the snake. He looked so cute. Then he was so sad afterwards. I had to laugh a little bit, it was a situation I have never seen before.''

The puppy, which lives at the Buddhist temple, was unhurt in the incident.

Golden tree snakes have small teeth and are mildly venomous.