For the average outdoorsman, stumbling across a snake in the woods is enough to make your heart skip a beat. Even if you know it’s just a harmless rat snake, the sudden movement in the brush triggers that primal “nope” instinct. Most folks just flat-out hate snakes, and honestly, you can’t blame them. I don’t particularly like them…
But as much as we complain about the copperheads and rattlers in our neck of the woods, it is almost impossible to comprehend the absolute river monsters lurking down in the Amazon.
Case in point: the green anaconda.
If you aren’t familiar with these real-life swamp dragons, they are the largest snakes in the world by weight. We are talking about a serpent that can grow up to 20 feet long (some have claimed to have found green anacondas over 30 feet) and tip the scales at a staggering 550 pounds. They aren’t venomous; they are constrictors. They ambush their prey, wrap their massive, muscular bodies around it, and squeeze until it suffocates. While they usually feast on aquatic animals like fish and turtles, they have been known to casually take down wild pigs, deer, and caimans.
Usually, anacondas try to stay completely camouflaged in the murky water and avoid humans. But if you back one into a corner and make it feel threatened, it will absolutely strike—which is exactly what one fishing guide learned the hard way.
During a guided trip on the Araguaia River in Central Brazil, a 38-year-old fishing guide named Joao Severino spotted a massive anaconda coiled up on a partially submerged tree stump. Thinking it would be a cool photo op for his clients, he pulled out his phone.
Severino said:
“When I was filming the anaconda, she pulled away and I saw that she was about to strike. I saw the snake on a stump and I said, ‘Look, guys, an anaconda is over there, I’m going to film it for you to see.'”
In the blink of an eye, the massive snake uncoils, lunges through the air, and bites the guide right on the hand before splashing back into the river.
You would think a boat full of tourists witnessing a giant jungle constrictor attack their captain would incite absolute panic. I mean, we’ve all seen the 1997 Anaconda move with Ice Cube and Jennifer Lopez, right? But nope, you can clearly hear the guests just busting out laughing in the background.
And no… this isn’t AI:
Miraculously, the anaconda didn’t get a solid grip. The bite barely scratched the surface, and Severino was able to just laugh off the terrifying near-miss along with his clients.
Biologist Edson Abrao weighed in on the viral clip, reminding folks just how lucky the guide was that the snake didn’t decide to stick around for round two:
“They aren’t venomous but they are extremely strong, one of the most agile snakes that exist underwater. They are animals that feed and kill their prey underwater.”
It is safe to say that the next time this guy sees a massive snake chilling on a stump, he’s just going to keep the boat moving.
