Not buying it,.. with or with out a zoom lens, he's still standing on the black backdrop so he couldn't have been too far (far enough) away from it.
These days you have cameras that hook up to TV and Computer screens with remote controls. So yeah,.. keep in mind how quick and touchy they are or may be.
It doesn't take long or much to realize and see that the handler is having issues with the snake and or the snake is out of view on cam.