Terrified householders had to abandon an entire town after 3,000 illegally bred king cobra eggs hatched out and gave their owner the slip.
The eggs - bred to supply the traditional health industry - had been stored in a cage in a house in Xianling, south west China.
But the newly hatched snakes escaped through a hole in their enclosure and took over the entire town.
"We don't really know how many survived but we caught 170 of them so we think a lot are still missing," said a police spokesman.
King cobras - which as adults can reach 18ft in length -are among the most deadly snakes in the world and can kill a man with a single bite.
Illegal breeder Cai Yong is now facing jail for breeding venomous snakes without a license.
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