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With summer in full swing, there’s nothing more tempting than cooling off in a body of water, especially in places like Texas, where the heat doesn’t mess around.
But before you go wading into the nearest watering hole, you might want to take a closer look.
One TikTok creator in Austin just gave viewers a reason to pause: snapping turtles.
In a recent video, Austin-based TikToker Joseph McMahon (@joseph_mcmahon1) stands by what looks like a peaceful lake and explains exactly why he refuses to swim there.
“You know why I don’t swim in Austin?” he begins. “Not only ’cause it’s dirty…”
He flips the camera to show a greenish, shallow lake, dotted with small turtles gliding along the surface.
“But see all these turtles?” McMahon says.
Then he zooms in.
“All of a sudden, look at this monster,” he exclaims. “Snapping turtle, bro.”
The large turtle is resting on the bottom, almost camouflaged against the rocks.
“Homeboy is just waiting to snap on f—— someone’s foot,” McMahon says. “That’s the worst day ever.”
After pointing out that the smaller turtles are actually the average-sized ones, he closes with a warning.
“Don’t swim out here unless you’re in Barton Springs, man,” he concludes. “Word of mouth. And now you’ve seen it.”
His video pulled in more than 664,500 views.
Snapping turtles are more common than most people think. They’re found all across eastern North America—from Florida to Nova Scotia and even parts of Alberta, Canada.
They live in freshwater environments like lakes, ponds, rivers, swamps, and canals—basically any quiet, permanent body of water. Unlike other turtles, they don’t bask much. They’re usually hanging just below the surface, out of sight.
And while they’re called snapping turtles for a reason—they’ll bite if they feel threatened—they’re not out there hunting swimmers. If left alone, they generally keep to themselves.
The safest move is to keep your distance. Don’t poke at them, don’t try to pick them up, and don’t corner them on land or in the water.
In the comments, viewers were pretty unsettled. Some said the video gave them anxiety, while others mentioned their own local turtle run-ins.
“He’s like ‘are you gonna get in?’” one person wrote.
Another added, “And they’re all over the San Marcos River too lol. Just steer clear. They’re pretty used to people but obviously don’t go poking at them.”
“OMG looking at that is giving a wave of anxiety,” someone else said.
But not everyone agreed with the warning. “I’ve lived in Austin for 30 years and swam in Lady Bird Lake many many times and there’s not a problem with snapping turtles. Unreal,” one user commented.
https://www.tiktok.com/@joseph_mcmahon1/video/7518777552819752206
BroBible reached out to McMahon via TikTok and Instagram messages for comment.
The post ‘Look At This Monster’: Texas Man Says Never Go Swimming In Austin’s Lakes. Then He Shows Why appeared first on BroBible.