Man sinks while looking for snakes

Off message again, but I can't resist this. I'm just going to have to accept that coverage of odd news stories is going to be one of the themes of Always Hope.

There's not much we can add to this one:

Man 'up to waist in mud' in Stourport-on-Severn rescued

Except one thing - this guy's given reason for being stuck up to his waist in a muddy lake was that he was "out looking for snakes". Is it just me, or does this sound a bit wrong? Is the cold lakeside mud really the natural habitat of snakes? Maybe this lake is renowned locally as a haunt of strange snakes, a sort of scaled-down Loch Ness? Did the emergency services mis-hear what he said as his teeth were chattering too much? And if not, is lake-snake-hunting really a healthy way for a 25-year old and his mates to spend an afternoon? Was he up to something embarrassing/illegal and this was the first excuse that came to mind? Like a man stuck in a lake for an hour, Always Hope smells a fish.

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