Update on venomous snakes found in AK

[cobraman]

This is the news story:

Little Rock, AR - A frightening discovery as four venomous snakes abandoned in a Little Rock neighborhood. but thankfully residents are now out of harms way.

It started when a driver stopped to look inside a wooden box at Sixth and Byrd streets. As he peered in, a cobra lifted its head- preparing to strike. Luckily, the reptiles are now in the hands of the Little Rock Zoo.

Handlers say the snakes are worth a thousand dollars- and while they are now contained--the question remains, where did they come from?

(Randal Berry, Little Rock Zoo) "Sure enough, there they were, I thought holy cow! We've got some pretty serious animals."

Reptile keeper Randal Berry opened up this box, labeled "live venomous reptiles" to find a very aggressive cobra, a 14 inch twig snake, a 6 foot long green mamba, and a 4 foot long black mamba.

(Berry) "Very venomous- especially the green and the black ones- could be a very serious bite."

Randal says these snakes are not in their usual territory, they're at home in Africa.

There, black mambas are classified as the largest poisonous snake- cruising up to 7 miles per hour. Green mambas live in trees and can swallow prey up to 4 times its size, and the bite of a twig snake is especially deadly-- because there is no known antidote.

Meanwhile, the cobra is known for not shying away when around humans. Randal says the cobra was more animated than the others--and he observes that whoever owned the snakes, fed them well.

Still many are scratching their heads trying to figure out how these out of country snakes made their way into Arkansas.

(Berry)"I'm just assuming that someone shipped them from reptile dealers."

Randal says it's up to their director, but they will most likely transfer the snakes to another zoo.

[cobraman]

And this is the update:

Most already know that I packed and shipped the snakes from Exotic Reptiles Jungle. The shipment was totally legit, and the buyer was legal to purchase. The snakes arrived, and he picked up the box from Delta, then e-mailed to say that he recieved the shipment and again thanked us for the animals.

This morning we were contacted by a detective in AK who said that the buyer's body was found near the airport. I don't believe his rental car was located, and the box containing the snakes were found elsewhere, so it is being investigated as a homicide.

[Cruciform]

The still haven't found the shipper? [oops, it wasn't showing when i posted] :)

on a related note:
I'm going to have to check the thread on Fauna about the guy who's claiming that he was expecting python's in a shipment and got a cobra instead. The snake was discovered by a UPS employee. According to people in the BOI, the receiver has asked people to ship him hots in the past using questionable or illegal methods so it should be good for some drama.

[Cruciform]

Whoa, holy crap! Someone killed him and then dumped the snakes? Jeez.

[psilocybe]

Wow, that is a pretty sinister twist in the story...

AP

[ReptiliansDOTca]

Ok, call me a moron (don't really do it please) but correct me if I am wrong. You, cobraman, had shipped these snakes to an individual. This individual was found murdered, and the snakes found elsewhere? Wow...

[cobraman]

I can't very well call you a moron, since you read my post and comprehended it correctly.

Yes that is correct.

[cobraman]

Let me add that I thought that Mr. Garrick Wales was a very nice gentleman (from the little contact we had with him). I offer my condolences to his family, and pray that he is in peace with his maker.

[ReptiliansDOTca]

Wow, is that weird or is that weird!

[cobraman]

Friday May 21, 2004 9:03am

Little Rock (AP) - Police in Little Rock are investigating a connection between a man found dead last week in Little Rock and venomous African snakes found the next day in a wooden box about half a mile away.

Police confirmed that man from Scotland and the snakes were connected, but they wouldn't say how the man died or whether he had a snake bite.

Little Rock Zoo director Michael Blakely says police interviewed zoo officials yesterday and told them they were investigating an unusual death that may be linked to the snakes.

On May 13th, police found the body of 48-year-old Garrick Wales, of Kilmacolm, Scotland, in a rented vehicle near Little Rock National Airport. The case was classified as an undetermined death, and Wales' body was sent to the state Crime Laboratory.

The next day, a Little Rock resident discovered the box of snakes at a city intersection near downtown and took the snakes to the zoo. They were identified as a 14-inch-long twig snake, a six-foot-long green mamba, a four-foot-long black mamba, and a five-foot-long forest cobra.

[Cruciform]

I wonder if it will still end up with the media putting blame on the snakes even if the death was unrelated.

I've worked at a paper and had unpleasant dealings with others, and reporters are scum.

[SCReptiles]

Ray, did they mention how he was killed and were the snakes listed to be in the box all that you shipped?

[cobraman]

No, it is still under investigation, and yesterday I was asked to hold off on posting new details until they close the case. I can say that all the snakes were accounted for.

[EmeraldEyes]

Wow! I thought that this was an amazing story when I heard about the beginning of it....now there's this part. I hope they find the cause soon, so that there's no more bad press about snakes....Thanks for what you were able to post, Cobraman. Will you get the snakes back, or how does that work? Peace, Emmy

[SCReptiles]

From what I am reading now, seems they are certain it was a snake bite death. Have they released any info on which snake or how the bite happened?

[EmeraldEyes]

I did a google search on the news story yesterday, and they hadn't released which snake it was..at least in the stories I saw..I still want to know what will happen to the snakes, which is why I was searching for it. If you see anything please post to let me know. Thanks, Emmy

[BoidKeeper]

Holly cow. What a story. What I'm wondering is, if he was bitten how is it that all the snakes were still in their bags and how did the box get from his car where he was found to the side of the road?
Trevor

[SCReptiles]

From the report they said they looked in the box and saw a cobra stand up. That would not have been possible if he was in a bag.

[Cruciform]

Any links to news articles on their findings?

[Scales Zoo]

Ray, thanks for sharing what you have.

A spooky mystery unfolding right befor our eyes.

Ryan

Edited: - I did a search on the google news, there are a lot of news reports about this mystery - and now there is a "she-male" adult film star mistress being interviewed about it - and they think he maybe was self immunizing.

The plot thickens

(no one has mentioned the possiblility of a suicide yet)

Read the news stories (click sort by date if it isn' already picked)
http://news.google.ca/news?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&tab=wn&scoring=d&q=%22Garrick+Wales%22

[Dozer]

shemale and snake man... iteresting... this is one wild case

[BWSmith]

Originally posted by Dozer
shemale and snake man... iteresting... this is one wild case

Ya learn more about Ray every day :w :w :w

[BoidKeeper]

I heard a radio interview with the guy who found the box and he said they were all baged.
Trevor

[Slannesh]

Definately a very odd story to be sure.