Wild water snake climbs onto Texas man's lap for a fish snack

WHITNEY, Texas, April 5 (UPI) -- A retired zoo director in Texas showed how a water snake living behind his house has learned to trust him and will crawl onto his lap for food.

Tim Jones, 79, a retired zoo director living in Whitney, filmed a video March 25 showing a large female diamondback water snake swimming up to the dock behind his house.

The non-venomous snake slithers up onto the dock and climbs Jones' leg.

"I have my pants taped up, 'cause I don't want one crawling up inside my britches," Jones says in the video. "That would be kinda bad."

The water snake climbs onto Jones' lap and takes an offered fish from his hand.

Jones says the snake was likely the same animal from a previous video where he hand-fed a water snake behind his home.

"Not only did she remember me, she really came up to me when she saw me. I'm real happy over that," Jones says.