A hiker in Florence’s Jeffries Creek Park was astonished to see an enormous snake lurking at the side of a creek.

She felt she needed to capture images of the large snake because she had never seen one before, even though they were fairly uncommon in the region.

So Meredith Langley took a closer look at the ‘beast.’

She posted the photographs she took on the South Carolina Hiking Club’s Facebook page. Her post, as predicted, drew a lot of attention and was shared hundreds of times in a few days.

Langley said in the article, “This was a good teaching opportunity and example for my own kids who forget not to run ahead of me on trails!”

The snake, despite its size, was able to fit in with its surroundings and was difficult to identify.

The reptile was a harmless brown water shake, according to specialists.

Water snakes look larger than they are due to their thick, muscular bodies, according to Greg Lucas, a scientist with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. Water snakes reach full size between 30 and 60 inches, according to him.

These reptiles are big species of nonvenomous natricine snakes unique to the southern United States, and they are frequently among the most common snakes found in the country’s rivers and streams.

Langley stated that she and her children see copperhead snakes on their weekly excursions in the region, but water snakes and water moccasins are also prevalent.

According to her, the snake she saw and later published on social media was around four feet long.

“Wholly unafraid of us,” she said of the beast.

“It stood there watching me with stillness and reserve, without aggression or fear.” That informed me that this species was confident in its ability to defend itself if necessary, but it did not need to expend that energy unnecessarily,” Langley explained.

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

To learn more about this story, watch the video below.