WATCH | The astonishing moment a man pulls a massive snake out of a stream

Most people would take a few steps backwards if they came across a four-and-a-half-metre-long cobra. This man, however, grabbed it by the tail. 

The remarkable moment occurred when a snake expert pulled a massive king cobra from a stream in Kerala, India, on November 4 2018.

Residents of a village near Thiruvananthapuram spotted the 4.57-metre reptile and a snake handler came to their rescue. 

The man doesn't flinch as he pulls the snake from the stream - not even when the reptile turns around to face him. 

He eventually carries the snake to an open piece of land where a bewildered crowd cautiously surrounds him.

It's unclear what happened to the cobra afterwards.