A peaceful day on a North Carolina lake turned into a nightmare when a rattlesnake came slithering on board.
Wayne Robbins and his family, of Knoxville, Tennessee, were on Fontana Lake when they spotted the timber rattlesnake coming towards them.
Robbins and his family were out on the water with ‘three children with limb differences’ from the Adventure Amputee Camp during the scary incident.
Wayne Robbins and his family, of Knoxville, Tennessee, were on Fontana Lake when they spotted the timber rattlesnake coming toward them
‘Once a year we spend our day with the kids of @AdventureAmputeeCamp, incident-free,’ Robbins wrote on Instagram alongside footage of the snake.
‘This year, an uninvited rattlesnake boarded our boat with campers on board!’
Robbins’ daughter Kathleen, 14, filmed the moment the rattlesnake swam toward the boat.
‘Oh my god!’ Kathleen can be heard screaming in the video.
‘That’s a rattlesnake,’ Robbins calmly tells her.
Robbins and his family were out on the water with ‘three children with limb differences’ from the Adventure Amputee Camp during the scary incident
The rattlesnake – which is venomous – continues to swim closer to the boat, slithering its tongue, and the children yell in fright
‘Is it really?’ she asks as the boat bursts into screams.
The rattlesnake – which is venomous – continues to swim closer to the boat, slithering its tongue, as the children yell in fright.
‘Oh my gosh, it’s coming on the boat!’ one child screams.
‘Drive! Drive! Drive!’ one boy screams to the adults. ‘Drive! Drive! Drive now!’
The boat descends into panic as the children try to get as far from the snake as possible as it inches onto the boat.
The snake suddenly darts away in the footage as Robbins gets up to the edge, the entire boat breathing a sigh of relief
‘Oh my god,’ one girl says, sounding like she nears tears.
But the adults start to calm the children as Robbins goes up to the edge of the boat and grabs a rope.
‘I was going to whack him,’ Robbins told the Charlotte Observer. ‘He was a pretty smart snake. He knew he wasn’t wanted.’
The snake suddenly darts away in the footage as Robbins gets up to the edge, letting the entire boat breathe a sigh of relief.