brown water snake

went to an old drainage pipe where i'd seen this same one a few days before and wasn't expecting to find anything however as soon as i turned the corner i nearly stepped on him. i watched him for awhile until he started to move away as i backed up he saw my movement and froze again knowing this particular species to be rather docile from my experiences i reached out and picked him up it was not easy he insisted in curling up with his body covered around his head (a fantastic defense) and simply stayed that way for a long time. eventually he started to move off and i got some photos.