A toad has been caught on camera eating a snake in China in a direct reversal of their normal roles.

The picture of a mountain toad eating a Jerdon’s pit viper was taken by a tourist at Qingcheng Mountain park in Sichuan, central China.

Ran Longzhong, from Chongqing, told IC Media that he had been unable to believe his eyes and was happy he had his camera with him.

"I was wandering on the mountain road, and suddenly I spotted a toad that was eating down a snake, which was still struggling," he said.

"The toad ate down the whole snake in around five minutes. It’s hard to believe that a predator can be hunted by its prey."

A local zoologist said it was the first time he had ever heard of a snake being eaten by a toad. (IC Media)

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A Chinese family borrowed a pet cat from their neighbour to catch a mouse which had invaded their home – only for them to become best friends.

Mr Li, of Changchun in north east China, was annoyed by the mouse which had sneaked into his house through a broken window.

"It was very foxy. I tried many ways to catch it, but it always escaped and then gained revenge on me by gnawing at the family utilities," he told Huashang Daily.

Li came up with the idea of borrowing his neighbour’s cat, Da Huang, after paying them a visit.

To make the cat more enthusiastic for the task, Li asked his neighbour to starve the cat overnight before he borrowed it.

The next morning, Da Huang caught the rodent but let it go after smelling it – and to Li’s surprise the mouse then started attacking the cat.

"Da Huang neglected his duty. He just pats the mouse off and after a while they just started playing together. Now they are friends and the cat even cuddles up with the mouse to sleep," he said.

He believes the cat’s normal diet of chicken liver has left it too spoiled to eat mice. (Huashang Daily)

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A cat has amazed its owner by learning to climb up the walls of her house to get back in when he’s locked out.

Charlie scales the walls of his master’s home in Denny, near Falkirk, to sneak indoors via an upstairs balcony.

The ginger and white tomcat’s gravity-defying skills have earned him the nickname ‘Spider-cat’, reports the Daily Telegraph.

His owner Hannah Smith discovered his talent when she let him out of the front door, only for him to reappear indoors moments later.

Miss Smith said: "Charlie miaows at the front door to be let out. So we let him out but no sooner is he let out than he wants back in.

"But if no one hears him at the front door, he wanders round to the back of the buildings to find the balcony. He then climbs up to the balcony to get back in.

"So Charlie really goes out the front door and in the back door."

She added: "I got him as a wee kitten and out of the litter Charlie was the one that looked most mischievous and I liked that about him. He’s certainly lived up to his reputation.

"I think it is totally incredible how Charlie is able to climb up a roughcast wall. I’ve seen cats climb trees but I’ve never seen a cat climb a wall. It’s amazing." (Daily Telegraph)

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Wolle the Rhesus monkey has developed an interesting habit – accepting mobile phones from visitors to Germany’s Westerhausen Zoo, and then tearing them to pieces.

Whether it is out of curiosity, a destructive tendency or the hope that there’s a meal inside somewhere for him, Wolle remains a rather ineffective mobile phone repair-monkey. Not unsurprisingly, he has yet to figure out how to put them back together again. (metro)

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A hungry frog tucks into its breakfast – a fellow amphibian.

The matchbox-sized green-stripe normally eats bugs but this one swallowed a green tree frog.

Wildlife fan Kerry Roberts captured the moment in the garden of her home in Townsville, Queensland.

She said she heard a frog squealing and assumed that a snake had got into her garden was was eating one of the hundreds of amphibians that live near her house.

Kerry continued: "I was having coffee at about 6.30 in the morning when I heard some squealing and splashing in my pool – like a frog in distress.

"My first thought was ‘oh no, it’s a snake, how am I going to get rid of it?’.

"But when I went over for a closer to look I saw it was a frog trying to eat another one."

She added: "The frogs are about the size of a matchbox and I’ve never seen anything like it before. They normally just eat bugs and insects." (metro)

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A rescued cat turns his nose up at everything but organic fruit and vegetables.

Dante, two, was found close to starvation as a kitten by owner Becky Page, reports the Daily Mirror.

Miss Page, 21, of Tasburgh, near Norwich, said: "I tried feeding him meat, fish, everything else cats like, but he turned his nose up.

"Just when I thought nothing would work, he wolfed down a plate of veg I was going to throw out. I have to smuggle bits of meat in among the veggies so he gets all the nutrients he needs.

"But sometimes he spots the meat and leaves it. He has a unique appetite – but he’s certainly healthy."

Miss Page, who grows her own fruit and veg, said Dante’s current favourites included melon, bananas, broccoli, rhubarb, asparagus, aubergine and Brussels sprouts.

Maggie Roberts, director of veterinary services at Cats Protection, said: "This is extremely rare. Cats are obligate carnivores and cannot be vegetarian." (Daily Mirror)

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A Croatian poultry farmer is doing a cracking Easter trade in naturally-laid green-coloured eggs.

Stipa Gregacevic was astonished when his prize hen Fata began laying coloured eggs at the family farm in Forkusevci.

"I can’t really explain why it happens," said Stipa. "Some say it might be because we put red pepper in the hen food."

And Stipa says customers are happy to shell out twice the going rate for normal eggs to buy a carton of his coloured specials.

"We’re an organic farm and we’re always being told to be more green but I don’t think this is what the scientists have in mind," he added. (roundup)

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A hen in China has reportedly adopted two orphaned puppy dogs after their mother died.

Owner Cao Fengying, of Majiaqiao village, Jiashan town, says the hen was best friends with the puppy’s mother.

But the dog was poisoned just ten days after giving birth to puppies, reports Today Morning.

Cao said: "The hen and the dog had been friends for two years. They would never fight but just play together.

"I thought the puppies would die after their mother went but the next morning I discovered that the puppies had gone missing.

"Then I heard the hen clucking in her coop. I looked over and saw that the little puppies were underneath the hen."

The hen now looks after her adopted children, defending them if anyone approaches and letting them eat first at meal times.

"Once I even saw the hen fight off several other chickens which were trying to steal the puppies’ food," added Cao.

Villagers say they can’t understand why a hen would be so protective of two puppies – but Cao believes she is simply doing right by her late friend. (Today Morning)

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A poodle has become a local celebrity in a Chinese city where it goes for a walk every day – on two feet.

Gou Gou walks out ‘hand-in-hand’ with owner Wang Guoqiang every afternoon at 3pm in Xi’an city, reports People’s Daily.

Local people have got used to seeing Gou Gou and he is usually followed by a crowd of fans who scream whenever they see him.

Mr Wang, 66, the dog’s owner, said he decided to teach the poodle to walk on two legs as a puppy and it had completely mastered it by the age of 18 months.

"It sometimes pulls my jacket to walk, or walks in front of me, and occasionally looks back to see if I am following; like it is waiting for me," he said.

"When I play my accordion, it will bark with the rhythm and dance in the standing position if the song is suitable for dancing."

Mr Wang claims Gou Gou can even answer the phone. He says that when the phone rings, it lifts up the receiver with its paws and barks.

"Sometimes the person at the other end will hang up the phone when hearing a dog bark. If the poodle hears the phone has been put down, it will put down the phone also," he said.

Mr Wang said he treasures his pet very much, giving it three meals a day, bathing it twice a week and even letting it use the same toothpaste as him.

"Each morning, I help it to brush its teeth. The poodle will open its mouth always to cooperate," he said. (People’s Daily)

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A video showing a Dalmatian riding a bicycle has become an internet hit.

The clip shows the dog cycling through the streets on a small red bike as passers-by watch in amazement.

The film on video sharing website YouTube is understood to have been shot for a Japanese television show.

Close-up footage shows Dotty the Dalmatian mounting the small bike, which has stabilisers, before carefully placing his paws on the pedals.

Dotty then slides his rump onto the saddle, dangles his front legs over the handle bars and begins pedalling.

He then joins other cyclists as he weaves his way through the streets. At one point he is overtaken by a bemused child who is also on a bicycle.

The video has racked up hundreds of thousands of hits on YouTube.

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