A venom-spitting cobra terrorized Raleigh for days after escaping from a snake-filled home

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Well, this sounds like fun.

Morning Mix

A venom-spitting cobra terrorized Raleigh for days after escaping from a snake-filled home

By Katie Shepherd
July 2, 2021 at 5:44 a.m. EDT

During a three-day sojourn on the streets of northwest Raleigh, N.C., a dangerous, venom-spitting cobra sunned itself on porches and frightened the people who crossed its path as officials struggled to locate and trap the escaped pet.

The animal had slithered away from a nearby home where its owner, 21-year-old Cford.56" target="_blank">hristopher Gifford, keeps dozens of reptiles, including several species of venomous snakes that he shows off on his social media accounts. Gifford did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

On Monday, a concerned citizen called 911 after spotting the unusual black-and-white striped snake on a porch in northwest Raleigh. ... “It looks like it’s actually a python,” the caller said. “This sounds crazy, but it looks like it’s a python from Australia.”

The evasive reptile was neither a python nor from Australia. Instead, the escape artist turned out to be a type of spitting cobra native to Africa. With photos and video of the snake, police identified the species as Naja nigricincta nigricincta, commonly known as a zebra cobra, which can be found in parts of Namibia and Angola.

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North Carolina allows residents to own venomous snakes without a permit as long as they keep the animals in “escape-proof” and “bite-proof” enclosures with locks.

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By Katie Shepherd
Katie Shepherd is a reporter on The Washington Post's Morning Mix team. Before joining The Post, she was a staff writer at Willamette Week in Portland, Ore. Twitter https://twitter.com/katemshepherd

[exboyfil]

1. About those escape proof enclosures

Right.

[Bristlecone]

2. I assume this kid will lose all of his reptiles due to his proven carelessness

[samnsara]

3. why dont they just stick with boas like the rest of us do?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. We can't all be Klinger.

[bucolic_frolic]

5. Public menace

No different than the Big Lie

[LT Barclay]

6. This is my mantra if someone says there are too many regulations

"escaped pet cobra".
Why is anyone allowed to have a pet cobra?
Get a harmless snake and name him"cobra" if that helps them feel powerful.
Google this, it happens a lot.