Crocodile and venomous snakes among hundreds of reptiles removed from dead man’s home
Hundreds of snakes, including two deadly black mambas, were discovered in the western Pennsylvania home of a 23-year-old man who reportedly died from something other than a bite.
Authorities also discovered a crocodile in the house, where they removed roughly 100 venomous snakes and left just as many non-poisonous ones behind, according to ABC News affiliate WNEP.
Police were called to the Beaver County Home Tuesday afternoon when a roommate of the unidentified dead man reported he was not responsive. His cause of death is unclear.
National Geographic describes black mambas as “fast, nervous, lethally venomous, and when threatened, highly aggressive.”
They can reportedly be as long as 14 feet and slither faster than 12 miles per hour. The black mamba’s bite is “almost always fatal” if untreated. Antivenoms are generally not accessible in areas where people come across them in nature, primarily in the savannas and rocky hills of southern and eastern Africa.
A South African snake rescuer posted a photo on Facebook Tuesday of a 9-foot black mamba that had been feeding on kittens. He and a helper captured the serpent, which the handler claimed “has no desire to bite a human.”
As for the crocodile found in the home, WTAE it as a dwarf caiman, which are found in South America. United Kingdom Crocodile Zoo Crocodiles of the World says females of the species are the smallest known crocodilian.
