The San Marcos River is an excellent spot for a leisurely day of fishing. As it turns out, it's also an excellent place for massive water snakes to chill on tree branches.
The popular river with easy access points hosts all kinds of tourists. But judging by the carefree attitude of this four-foot water snake, we imagine he's a local.
Angler Bubba Ward shared his snake encounter with the San Antonio Express-News. He says he went kayak fishing for bass on the river earlier this month near the lower end that approaches Interstate 35. While standing near the shallow bank of the river, he tied his kayak to him and let it float. The current picked up the boat and took it towards an overhanging tree.
That's when Ward casually went to retrieve the boat, carefully getting back in. He reached for a branch to steady himself and climb back into the kayak.
Well, at least he thought it was only a branch. This lazy local just so happened to get there first. "Ran into this guy this evening while fishing," Ward captioned his Instagram picture. "Almost leaned on him before I even realized!"
For most people, running into a water snake that size raises a few alarms. After all, we've all heard the saying that water-dwelling serpents can be much more aggressive (and dangerous) than snakes who hang out on land.
But a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department spokeswoman told the Express-News that, by the look of it, this massive guy was a nonvenomous water snake native to the area.
But we wouldn't go grabbing him just to find out how quick he is to snap.
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