Franco Banfi isn't afraid of the anacondas of Mato Grosso

Nov 10, 2012 08:38 GMT  ·  By

Franco Banfi, 53-year-old diver, photographer and snake aficionado from Switzerland, has captured a gigantic anaconda on camera, while scouting the Mato Grosso do Sul river, in Brazil.

He saw six 26-foot (8 meter) long anacondas in Mato Grosso, but wasn't attacked by them, nor was he scared. These snakes prey on mice, fish or birds.

“As the snake had just eaten it didn't take much interest in us. [...] Everything is possible but I don't think it would have eaten us. I was very close, I could have touched it if I wanted to,” he says.

Banfi managed to get so close, that one can observe every detail on the snake's body.

“Mato Grosso” translates to “Thick Forest of the South,” a land where these enormous creatures lie on the riverbank and lurk the waters, Daily Mail writes.