A Bolivian inmate, José Luis Callisaya Diaz attempted to escape from Chonchocoro, a maximum security prison by dressing as a sheep and crawling through the grassland.

The convict who who is serving a 15-year sentence for homicide wrapped himself in sheepskin in a bid to pass the prison guards unnoticed.

José Luis also known ‘El Araña’ (the spider), reportedly used his fleece coat to sneak past Chonchocoro security and attempted to break through one of the facility walls in a bid to escape his incarceration on February 4.

He was unsuccessful as guards who noticed he was not in his cell scrambled to bring him into incarceration.

The prison guards found him crawling around on all fours in a field while the wool covered his upper body.

The escape artist believed he could take advantage of the cold weather to avoid the slammer.

Director of the Bolivian Penitentiary Regime, Juan Carlos Limpias, reassured the country that the failed escape artist was back in custody.

He said: “We inform the Bolivian population that prison security police officers from the San Pedro de Chonchocoro Penitentiary Center prevented the escape of prisoner José Luis Callisaya Diaz (alias El Araña), who took advantage of the inclement weather to try to flee through one of the walls of the external perimeter of the prison.