Massive Snake Mistaken for Stick Spooks Beachgoers by Slithering Through the Surf

Yahoo

01-05-2025

One woman's beach trip went viral after she documented a huge snake slithering on the Ocean City, Md., beaches.
Roxanne Flanagan posted a video to Facebook on Saturday, April 26, of an Eastern Hognose snake emerging out of the Atlantic Ocean.
Flanagan told WMAR that she and her co-worker, Tiffany Redman, took their children to Ocean City for Springfest. But while on the Maryland beach, Flanagan's 7-year-old daughter yelled that she saw a snake near the fishing pier, north of the Ocean City Inlet.
"I told her, it's probably just a stick, but I walked over and it was moving," Flanagan recalled. She then told her children to move back and give the reptile space.
'It was slithering probably for a few good minutes,' Flanagan said, noting that the snake was also pushed by the waves as it slithered across the sand.
"At first, I thought they saw a shark," Redman told CBS News."But I was never expecting them to see a snake."
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Although the snake was 'chasing people,' Redman said it was the highlight of the kids' weekend for sure.
"My daughter, Divinity, I hope it doesn't scare her to go back to Ocean City because I would like for them to enjoy the sand and building sandcastles, so hopefully we don't see any more snakes on the beach," Flanagan told CBS News.
"All the years I've been going to Ocean City, I would have never thought that there were snakes in the water,' she said. "But now I'm worried about snakes."
'I'll still go to the beach, but I'll be extra cautious,' she confessed to The Baltimore Banner.
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Ocean City Animal Control responded to a call about the snake, and they relocated the animal.
Flanagan's husband Frederick was shocked when he learned about his family's reptilian run-in.
"I was like, 'Oh my goodness, are you serious?' She showed me pictures and videos. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and of course, I hear my kids in the background freaking out,' he told CBS News.
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'This is a native species that likes habitats with sandy soil, so it would not be unusual for it to be found on the beach,' Gregg Bortz, a spokesperson for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, said, per The Baltimore Banner.
Dan Dembiec, the vice president of animal care operations at the National Aquarium, said Maryland is 'designed perfectly' for the species due to the close proximity to water. He added that the animals aren't dangerous to the public, but advised people to just 'let them be.'
'The best advice always with snakes is, step back and watch them,' Dembiec said. 'They won't attack you. They don't eat people.'
Read the original article on People