| 1 | Common lancehead |
One of South America’s most feared snakes, measuring 75-125cm. Wide rivers, manmade reservoirs, anaconda-infested marshes – it doesn’t matter, this snake can cross them all. Common lanceheads are dangerously venomous and largely prey on rodents and opossums. They live in dense forests and forest edges, sometimes near traditional villages. There’s no avoiding waterbodies in a rainforest, and Bothrops atrox navigates them with ease, in their neverending quest for food and mates.
They swim neither straight ahead, nor in swinging S-shaped coils, but somewhere inbetween. If a bird spots them, they’ll escape using their immense speed and agility, although this might be their one flaw: they’re so confident that they stray from the safety of vegetation.
Common lanceheads swim for longer and more flexibly than a human being. A human has to use complex arm movements, taught over many hours by specialist instructors amid a constant atmosphere of chlorine. Common lanceheads use a modified version of their natural slithering, and have the instincts to do this from birth. This species belongs to the same family as the Martinique lancehead or jararacussu.
| 2 | King cobra |
The king cobra is a particularly fast snake, whether in fields or rocky plains. In water, they don’t slow down one fraction. Most cobras are strong swimmers, and the king cobra has scared river dwellers near villages countless times. This is a 3-4 metre southeast Asian species, which is not technically a “true” cobra, yet possesses the iconic neck flare.
The king cobra splits water as effortlessly as Moses. They swallow up other snakes for their prey, hence their kingly title, even smaller reticulated pythons. Lakes are too good an opportunity to resist if they’re teeming with mud snakes or rice paddy snakes, and king cobras have effortless swimming skills to fulfil these plans. They swim straight ahead with their body waggling calmly, creating mini waves on either side which travel for many metres.
If you’re swimming in a lake and see a king cobra 12 metres away, then be warned: there’s no safety buffer just because you’re in water. That said, the king cobra isn’t an overly aggressive species, and they normally flee if possible.
| 3 | Eastern coral snake |
The eastern coral snake mainly inhabits woodlands of the US southeast, including oak hammocks, slashpine and tropical broadleaf forests. But water is no barrier to their wanderings, least of all if there’s a smaller snake (their main prey) resting on a lilypad in the middle.
Eastern coral snakes measure 80cm and have a moderately thick body. They swim like a maniac, thrashing wildly from side to side with no loss of speed. Officially, they’re less comfortable in water than their Brazilian cousin the aquatic garter snake, yet the video above shows one tearing its way through a local lake.
Eastern coral snakes are lazy snakes, sticking to one area of the woods, yet they can produce a burst of explosive energy when necessary, including in water. If the eastern coral snake is anything, then it’s a speedboat rather than a lazy passenger cruiser. If a heron sees them, then they can easily weave past its long beak. If a skin trader wants to harvest them, they can easily escape his net with seconds to spare, and swim to the opposite shore. The eastern coral snake might not be able to pursue a water skier at full blast. But they could probably overtake a rowing boat, climbing up the sides and on board if they felt mischievous enough.
| 4 | Puff adder |
This species floats through water effortlessly, drifting with the tides and occasionally changing direction with a calm S-shaped writhing. Puff adders are widespread in sub-Saharan Africa, and are typically found in forest edges with an abundance of bushes to lurk in. They like semi-open areas, usually on dry land, yet they’re not afraid to step into the world of water. Puff adders are spotted in ponds, reservoirs and rivers, which they navigate with ease, despite a bulky body.
The puff adder could be in the centre of a lake miles wide and not be scared. One vast water body they’ve been spotted in is Gariep Dam in South Africa. Having open featureless vistas on all sides doesn’t bother them even slightly.
The only disadvantage is being hunted. Rivers are way more exposed than their usual bushland, and hungry birds can spot them easily. However, they can still dive below into the depths. Puff adders lack the advanced breathing apparatus of watersnakes, but there’s still enough time for the bird to curse its slow, feathery reactions, and fly off to find another meal. The puff adder is highly venomous and eats mammals such as four-striped grass mice.
| 5 | Adder |
Snakes may lack arms and legs, but their long bodies are more than capable of speeding through water, as long as they have the inherent instinct for it. Adders live in woodlands and fields of Great Britain and western Europe. They’re not an aquatic snake, yet if the scent molecules they track draw them to a lake, they will enter and start swimming question. Their swimming style varies from relaxed to relentless side to side writhing. Either way, it’s nothing more than an adapted version of their normal land slithering, making it effortless.
Adders are a mammal hunter which particularly enjoys mice and voles. Being in a lake is a great chance to plot out their next move; out in the open, away from bushes, they can see their local neighbourhood and its landmarks clearly.
Just as importantly, adders have a camouflaging colour scheme. They’re beige intermingled with grey or black, which blends well into the murky water surface. A hovering bird would struggle to make out the adder on a cloudy day, even if it was swimming at full blast. Though adders are happy swimming around a woodland river, they’ll leave just as quickly if they see a rodent on the opposite shore.
| 6 | Red racer |
The red racer moves through water like a nimble speedboat. They possess every required quality: fast speed, high buoyancy, and instantaneous 90 degree turns. Red racers are an unusually pink subspecies of the coachwhip living in California, Arizona and Nevada. They’re primarily a land snake and are already famed for their agility, speeding down paths and vanishing into thorny bushes.
Red racers like semi-arid areas, where they blend expertly into the parched soil. Yet if they come across water they’ll enter it without hesitation. These rogue water explorers don’t look distressed in the slightest, but as sharp and alert as ever. This is a flexible eater, with bats, birds and lizards alike on its menu. Although they’re intimidating due to their fast speeds, attacks on humans are rare unless seriously provoked.
Their swimming strength isn’t just for forward propulsion, but to prevent them from getting washed away. Red racers can withstand strong currents, which would wash other creatures helplessly downstream, tumbling through frothy rapids until they came to a stop miles from their familiar home. Because of its power, the red racer doesn’t have to worry about this. Once they’re finished, they can leave the river, dry off, and return to their comfy mammal burrow (a popular hideout for this species).
| 7 | Eastern diamondback rattlesnake |
Though officially a land snake, there’s a strong chance you’ll see the eastern diamondback rattlesnake swimming towards your fishing boat with great determination. This is southeast US (Florida, Georgia) snake, which is increasingly rare and lurks in mammal burrows in woodland areas. Water isn’t their natural territory, yet they’ve been filmed weaving through with ease. They swim at moderate speeds, not fighting for their life, but slithering in a standard S-shape, as though the water is completely solid ground.
Compared to an Olympic sprint swim, with arms smashing down, water splashing everywhere, and athletes gulping for oxygen afterwards, the eastern diamondback is laughably relaxed. Crotalus adamanteus can easily adjust – they can slither through rivers slowly when investigating, and speed off quickly when escaping.
Eastern diamondbacks prey on mammals and birds, with favourites being rice rats and marsh rabbits. The one consolation is that this species weighs an average of just 5-10 pounds. Not exactly a behemoth that could topple your boat with a head on ram. They’re actually the heaviest snake in the US, yet they still weigh nothing. Their length meanwhile, reaches 2 metres.
| 8 | Eastern brown snake |
Eastern brown snakes are already a scary snake, with a neurotoxic venom, but add water to the mix and they become terrifying. This Australian species is the second most venomous land snake in the world. They can be found on outback trails, in country parks, and fields, yet love water and move effortlessly through it.
In 2011, fear reached a new level when torrential downpours caused Queensland to flood. Cars were washed away and people were evacuated from rooftops via helicopter. Worse was that the eastern brown snakes used the water as a way to spread. They started popping up everywhere, swimming energetically through flooded streets as cars floated past, threatening to bite people already clinging to survival.
Though relatively thin, eastern brown snakes have all the complex muscle fibres necessary to propel themselves forward. Their diet contains few frogs, mainly mammals such as the house mouse, yet they enter water bodies just for the sake of it. They have no problem with biting while in water either. Eastern brown snakes tend to skip the intricate manoeuvres and just swim directly forward, with an alert expression. In a crocodile battle, they have a great chance of survival because of how nimble they are.
| 9 | Japanese ratsnake |
This species doesn’t eat many frogs, and it doesn’t need water to survive, but they’re often seen blasting through lakes anyway. The Japanese ratsnake is a non-venomous species which nevertheless has a painful bite if handled carelessly. They’re a land snake, but are agile enough that the entire world is open to them: they can spend the afternoon in a forest, a grassy field or a lake.
Japanese ratsnakes can slither extremely quickly, or more patiently. Compared to an eastern brown snake, they constantly move their body from side to side, in an S-shaped motion. Japanese ratsnakes can swim incredibly quickly when focussed. Their body thrashes wildly, but they always keep their head raised up like a periscope, scanning ahead alertly.
This 1-1.8 metre species is common, inhabiting the entire Japanese mainland island of Honshu, and being worshipped in ancient temples. Japanese ratsnakes lose almost none of their skills in water. They can bite, hiss, and scan their surroundings just as effectively as ever. Japanese ratsnakes have the freedom to spend as long in rivers as they desire. They can immediately cross to the opposite shore, or they can hang around for a while, splashing in shallow waters purely for fun.
| 10 | Caspian whipsnake |
The Caspian whipsnake is an active predator which hunts down its prey on foot (figuratively speaking). There’s always going to be streams and rivers to cross somewhere, and the Caspian whipsnake manages it much more easily than an army of tanks.
This is a Balkan species which is non-venomous, yet attacks humans without hesitation if bothered. Caspian whipsnakes are diurnal and get most of their calories from mammals like little ground squirrels (Spermophilus pygmaeus). Snakes they coexist with include horned vipers, yet this one is more likely to cross a wide river.
Compared to turtle-headed sea snakes, Caspian whipsnakes lack proper aquatic adaptions. Their lungs are normal size, their eyes aren’t oriented upwards, and they can’t absorb oxygen through their scales. Yet Caspian whipsnakes are so energetic and powerful on land that they’re great swimmers by default. This study shows their swimming style: moving forward calmly with their head raised up like a periscope, so that splashing waves never block its field of vision.