HOW FAST ARE SNAKES? Check out this video to see how quick snakes truly are. Over short distances, snakes are very fast and they can swim too. I often see them swimming bith over and fir broef periods, under water when they fish. In this video, I was walking on a colleagues property and pulled out my camera as I accidentally almost stepped on a copperhead. You see the last part of the footage when it flees from me. Star was out with me too and in the video you can see her giving the snake space.