More BAD press - Lots of It

[BWSmith]

http://www.bismarcktribune.com/artic...ocal/nws03.txt

Deadly snakes found in a local apartment
By MIKE ALBRECHT, Bismarck Tribune
Two of the deadliest snakes in the world and a cobra that can spit venom up to 8 feet were found Thursday in a Bismarck apartment.

Andrew Greff said he came home Thursday afternoon to find police officers rummaging through his apartment at 306 N. 13th St. Bismarck Police Lt. Dan Donlin said they had a search warrant to look forsix snakes that were living there in aquariums and a plastic tub.

In an interview from jail, Greff, 21, said he and a friend, Doug Feist, 27, bought an East African green mamba, a death adder, an albino monocle cobra and a yellow-bellied racer from an Internet site. UPS delivered them to his apartment. Greff and Feist also had a bullsnake and a rattlesnake that they caught south of Mandan. All but the mamba were in the apartment for more than a month.

Greff said he and the Florida company he bought the snakes from checked North Dakota state law and there was nothing prohibiting poisonous snakes. But Greff forgot to check out Bismarck's regulations.

A Bismarck ordinance prohibits "dangerous animals" in city limits. Bismarck Animal Warden Lynnette Jacobs said four poisonous snakes -- the mamba, adder, rattlesnake and cobra -- are considered dangerous and were seized. The bullsnake and the racer were not poisonous and were left behind.

Greff and Feist were charged Friday with reckless endangerment for putting their neighbors in danger, Burleigh County Assistant State's Attorney Julie Lawyer said. Greff is being held in the Burleigh County jail on a $500 cash bond, and an arrest warrant was issued for Feist.

The adder and the mamba are among the top 11deadliest snakes in the world -- police say they're ranked 10 and 11, but Greff said they're ranked two and three. Greff also disputed officers' claims that the cobra could spit venom.

Zoo Director Jerry Lincoln said he was called to help transport the animals to the zoo. Lincoln and the officers duct-taped the covers of the snake containers shut and loaded them into a pickup. The snakes are now in a secure location at the zoo, off limits to the public.

The zoo has no plans to keep the poisonous snakes or show them to the public because of strict regulations. To display poisonous snakes, the zoo would need an alarm system directly connected to a local hospital, a hospital staff properly trained to handle snake bites and anti-venom on hand.

"Visitors can't see them because it's an open court case, and we don't want to expose the public to a potentially dangerous situation," Lincoln said.

Authorities found out about the poisonous snakes from a biologist at Bismarck State College. She called the police department after her co-worker identified the green mamba for Feist.

The snakes were shipped to Bismarck from Florida by Zoological Imports 2000. The Florida company told investigators that they sold the pets to Feist.

Greff said he wants his pets back. He spent more than $1,500 on the snakes and cages, and he dished out a dollar a mouse to feed them. Greff said if he gets the snakes back, he'll move them to his parents' farm north of Mott, if his parents don't object.

Greff became interested in snakes when he and Feist caught two snakes south of Mandan and bought the exotic breeds because "they're really pretty." When asked if he ever planned to set the snakes loose, Greff said, "That would be crazy. It never crossed my mind."

He said the mamba was the only snake to escape and although it moved "really quick" Greff and Feist caught it when it went under a bed. Greff said no one has been bitten by the snakes.

"I live near the hospital, so I wasn't worried," he said.

Great. Just what we needed.

UPS delivered them to his apartment

The snakes were shipped to Bismarck from Florida by Zoological Imports 2000

For those who don't know, THAT IS ILLEGAL AND DANGEROUS.

Authorities found out about the poisonous snakes from a biologist at Bismarck State College. She called the police department after her co-worker identified the green mamba for Feist.

WHAT?!?!?!?!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald...9036721.htm?1c

Two-foot copperhead snake stolen from Tampa zoo

Associated Press


TAMPA, Fla. - A 2-foot venomous copperhead snake was stolen from the Lowry Park Zoo, after an intruder squeezed through a skylight in the snake room.

The intruder cracked through the glass skylight, and broke locks on three cages, said zoo spokeswoman Heather Sitton. He or she passed over a rattlesnake and a king snake, taking only the male snake from a cage that also contained a female copperhead, Sitton said.

The snake, which has been at the zoo since 1996, is worth about $60.

Copperheads are easily irritated, and their bites can cause tissue damage.

Officials contacted local hospitals after the snake was reported missing Monday morning to ask them to keep track of any snakebites, said Tampa police spokesman Joe Durkin.

Florida requires a permit documenting at least 1,000 hours of handling experience to keep a copperhead as a pet, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

WHY?!?!?!


Uggg. I can't even comment any more.

[faze]

3 deep breath's bw and think before you go hunt the idiots down and strange them

[trinitywolf]

It really is a darn shame that a few bad examples set the tone for life. There is no way that company should be mailing venomous snakes via UPS. They endanger a lot of people with that kind of nonsense. Seems fairly obvious this guy should not be owning venomous snakes.
As for the theft...what can you say? That is just stupid. Why not go out to the wild and catch one for goodness sake.

[faze]

lmao it prolly would have been less dangerous that way ted!

[Kent K25]

No kidding, all that trouble to steal one copperhead? Moron!

[Wrasse]

He only had to ask BW or Julius for one :P

[MustangRde1]

Someone needs to prove the snakes were shipped UPS. I find it very hard to beleive Mario would ship them that way and risk his bussiness. BW take a deeeeeeeep breath you know as well as I do the press alwways blows it way out of proportion. We need the facts not the press.

[BWSmith]

I was thinking the same thing. I know Mario, and I didn't think that he would ship improperly. But who knows. The facts will emerge. But needless to say, WE may search for the facts, but the general public will not. They only care about the headline.

I did jump the gun a bit. Just too much bad press in one day. This includes a reliable source calling me yesterday to let me know that we had two private keepers here in GA get tagged 10 hours part.

[reptilemama]

The guy wasn't worried because he lived near the hosptal?! Oh, yeah, every hospital keeps antivenin handy for mambas and cobras. And they bought them because they were "really pretty"? Yeah right, then why didn't they buy a corn snake or even a GTP? What idiots.

	Green Tree Python Green Tree Python (Morelia viridis)

	Corn Snake The Corn Snake or Red Rat Snake (Elaphe guttata) is a species of Rat Snake.