A camper woke up to a nasty surprise – when he found a snake coiled directly outside his tent.

Carlos Cevallos was hiking along the Gila River in Yuma, Arizona, and pitched his tent to camp overnight.

After drifting off to sleep, he was woken up by the sound of the snake rustling across his tarpaulin, Story Trender.

But he did not recognise the danger until he opened his eyes, by which time the highly venomous serpent had coiled itself just inches from his face.

He was able to snap a quick selfie with his guest before cutting a hole in the other side of the canvas and crawling out to safety.

Carlos, 33, said: ‘I had headed out the day before on a solo hike and was camping overnight.

‘The snake woke me up. I heard it coming over my ground tarpaulin but didn’t think much of it to begin with.

‘Then I opened my eyes and the snake was right next to me.

‘I carefully snapped photos and then quickly cut a hole in my tent to get out the opposite side.

‘Some people have said it was fake, but most people really like the pictures.

‘Everyone should go out and explore. Life can’t be experienced from the couch.’