A woman hiking at Jeffries Creek Park in Florence was startled to spot an enormous snake hiding near the edge of a creek.

As she has never seen such a huge snake before, although they are not uncommon at the area, she knew she needed to take photos of it so people could actually believe her story.

So what Meredith Langley did was take a closer look at the ‘beast.’

Upon taking photos, she uploaded them on the South Carolina Hiking club’s Facebook page. As expected, her post gathered the attention of many and was shared thousands of times in a matter of days.

Langley captioned her post, “This was a good teaching opportunity and example for my own kids who forget not to run ahead of me on trails!”

The snake, although extremely huge, was able to blend with the surrounding and wasn’t easy to spot.

According to experts, the reptile was a harmless brown water shake.

Greg Lucas, a biologist with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, explained that because of their thick, muscular bodies, water snakes appear larger than they actually are. According to him, water snakes grow to their full size between 30 and 60 inches.

These reptiles represent large species of nonvenomous natricine snake endemic to the southeastern United States and are often one of the most abundant species of snakes found in rivers and streams of the southeastern part of the country.

Langley said that on their weekly hikes in the area, she and her children come with copperhead snakes, but water snakes and water moccasins are also very common.

According to her, the snake she spotted and later shared online was around four feet long.

The beast was “wholly unafraid of us,” she added.

“It watched me with stillness and reserve, and without aggression or fear. That told me that this creature knew with certainty that it was capable of defending itself if needed, but it need not exert that energy unnecessarily,” Langley said.

“That area is its home, not ours, and my children and I maintain that respect and reverence anytime we are out in nature,” she added.

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