What is quicksand and what to do if you become stuck?

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See it: Missing man rescued after being stuck in quick sand

A missing man was brought to safety in a harrowing rescue after being found shoulders deep in quick sand in Florida, according to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.

Quicksand can be deadly if encountered, but how does it even form in the first place?

Quick sand is often portrayed in Hollywood as a very slow but deadly threat, where someone usually has to pull you out from your impending doom.

When in reality, real quicksand doesn’t suck people in the same way it does in the movies.

Quicksand is a mixture of sand and water, or sand and air, that looks solid but becomes unstable when disturbed by any stress or pressure, according to a study from scientificamerican.com.

"At higher stresses, quicksand liquefies very quickly, and the higher the stress, the more fluid it becomes," read a statement from the National Geographic.

This sort of traction causes a trapped body to sink when it starts to move atop the sand.

Most people do not realize that a person moving around in quicksand will never sink all the way to the bottom. The reason is that humans are not dense enough.

Crews work to rescue a man stuck in quick sand.

(Putnam County Sheriff's Office / FOX Weather)

Most recently, a man in Florida was rescued by police after they found him up to his shoulders in quicksand.

On Wednesday, officials found a man shoulder deep in mud close to a borrow pit. He was able to talk to a rescuer as they began the tough task of saving the individual.

Initially, the first three responders used a rope to try to pull the man out of the thick quicksand, but were met with painful screams when they attempted to drag him out the old-fashioned way.

Eventually, after nearly two hours, rescuers dug the man out using ladders and other supplies, but he was lucky to be found by officials, as he was virtually camouflaged by his surroundings and nearly submerged.

Most quicksand occurrences occur in areas such as natural springs, riverbanks, and beaches at low tide, according to ScientificAmerican.com.

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What to do if you encounter quicksand

According to a study by Daniel Bonn, a Physics Professor at the Van der Waals-Zeeman Institute at the University of Amsterdam, the best course of action if you become stuck in quicksand is to wiggle your legs around to create space in the sand where water can flow through and loosen things up.

Water must be added to the sand to help reduce the flow resistance.

Slowly and progressively, by doing this technique, you can eventually escape from quicksand. Experts don’t recommend pulling a victim out, as this can be painful.

VIDEO: MISSING MAN RESCUED AFTER BEING BURIED TO HIS SHOULDERS IN QUICK SAND IN FLORIDA

Be sure to contact local authorities and first responders if you encounter quicksand while exploring nature.