(Warning: YouTube video below contains offensive language)

ELEPHANT BUTTE, N.M. (KRQE) – An Albuquerque couple got a surprise at Elephant Butte Lake when a rattlesnake raced toward their boat.

“He came up and tried to get on board. She started freaking out. I started freaking out,” KRQE News 13 Director Glenn Sanchez said about first seeing the snake darting toward and circling their boat over the weekend at Black’s Bluff on the north end of the Butte.

The Albuquerque BioPark’s Curator of Herpetology Richard Reams said it is common to see snakes in the water.

“As with Elephant Butte, a lot of the escarpment habitats border the lake and that’s where the snakes live, and sometimes they go in the water and they swim across it,” Reams said.

However, Jeremy Lane with New Mexico Game and Fish said it is rare to see one approach the boat — and the fact the snake swam so quickly could mean it was in distress.

“It wasn’t coming to attack. It was coming for refuge,” Lane stated.

Sanchez said all they could do miles away from the nearest marina, was act quickly before the snake could get on board.

“Get the [expletive] anchor up. Get the anchor up so he doesn’t come up the [expletive] anchor. Ge the [expletive] anchor up, there he is!” he’s heard saying in the cell phone video that captured the incident.

The video cuts off just as the excitement is building, but Sanchez said they were able to get the anchor up and drive away from the snake.

To watch the uncensored video on YouTube, click here.