March 12 (UPI) — Authorities in Texas were called recently to deal with an unusual exotic animal in the city: a Siamese spitting cobra.
Wichita Falls Animal Services officers were called last week to assist Wichita Falls Police Department with a violation of a local law against keeping venomous reptiles.
“So they went and they found a cobra in a container. The snake was not loose. They brought it back to the shelter,” Diann Bowman, the animal care and adoption supervisor at Animal Services, told KAUZ-TV.
Bowman said the cobra was the first she has encountered in her nine years on the job.
“Sometimes we get pythons and boa constrictors, you know, snakes that people have as pets, snakes that you can legally have as pets,” Bowman said.
Nathan Hawkins, the owner of Big Country Snake Removal, was called to collect the snake, which he identified as a Siamese spitting cobra, native to southeast Asia.
“The snake would not survive here if it, like, got loose or anything,” Hawkins said. “The snake would die rather quickly.”
Hawkins said the snake will be in quarantine for 90 days before going on display alongside 200 other snakes at his Serpentarium zoo in Abilene, which is licensed by Texas Parks and Wildlife to keep venomous reptiles.
