A fisherman in the US has captured the moment a snake fought hard to steal his catch. Daron Searcy was fishing at a friend's pond in Petersburg, Illinois, when he noticed the snake in water. "A few weeks ago I was fishing at a friend's pond. This snake was going up and down the bank in front of me," he was quoted as saying by ViralHog.
Mr Searcy had a fishing basket in water when the snake appeared. Footage of the incident shows the snake gliding straight for the basket and disappearing underwater. "It kept going underwater so I pulled out my phone and pulled in the basket," said Mr Searcy. Then, as he filmed the scene while pulling the basket in, the snake made a reappearance.
The shocking video, shared by licensor ViralHog, shows the serpent thrashing furiously in an attempt to steal the fish inside the basket.
The video has been viewed over 13,000 times on YouTube since being shared two days ago.
"Noo way!" wrote one person in the comments section. "You should give it one fish," another opined.
"Human poacher steals snake's food," a commented quipped.
According to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the state is home to about 40 species of snakes that dwell in forests, grasslands, marshes, swamps, ponds, lakes, streams, rivers and sloughs. Only four species of snakes found in Illinois are venomous.