A fearless vet was all smiles as he took a dip beside a gigantic anaconda.
Sergio Antúnez Rossi is a veterinarian and fishing guide who travels the world in his free time.
His travels often take him in search of snakes – his favourite animal.
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Shortly after arriving in the Peruvian Amazon, Sergio came across a green anaconda up to six m (20 ft) long.
The 37-year-old Argentine couldn’t believe his luck.
Sergio believes the bulky snake had a luckless capybara in its stomach when he stumbled upon it half submerged in a river.
Despite knowing to attack when they feel threatened, the vet chose to get into the water with the specimen.
He said in a video on Sunday (28 Jul): “I’m fulfilling a dream right now, my whole body is tingling with excitement.
“I’ve been a snake enthusiast since I was a kid, and this is truly an iconic species. I’ve always wanted to document one in the wild.”
Sergio explained how the green anaconda is the second-longest snake in the world, after the reticulated python.
It’s also the world’s heaviest snake, weighing “up to 200 kg” (31 st).
It also “has about 100 teeth curved backwards”, as reported on Need To Know.
Kneeling just inches from the water boa, he explained: “This creature you’re seeing here is truly a monster.
“It has a very powerful head and incredible strength. If I tried to handle it alone, it could kill me.
“Not because it wants to eat me, but because I wouldn’t have the strength to unwrap it from my body.”
Despite bathing just inches from it, Sergio insisted: “I don’t pose any danger to her, nor am I part of her food chain.”
There are no records of a green anaconda eating a human. However, there have been documented attacks.
It’s known that the species can extend its jaws wide enough to get around an adult human’s shoulders.
Sergio was beaming as he said: “I’m absolutely thrilled.”
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