Bronx Zoo deadly escaped Egyptian Cobra is found alive after 6 days on the lam
The NY Daily News ^ | March 31st 2011 | Barry Paddock
Snakes alive! - the cobra has been found.
The Bronx Zoo's escaped snake was snared in the House of Reptiles on Thursday, six days after she slithered out of her enclosure.
"We found our snake and we're very happy," Jim Breheny, the zoo's director, told the Daily News.
The fanged fugitive was spotted coiled in a corner around 9 a.m., during one of three daily sweeps by a half-dozen zoo workers.
Using special tongs and hooks, they easily apprehended the deadly Egyptian cobra, which is now under observation.
"We knew it was going to be a game of patience. We set the place up to make it easier to search," Breheny said.
Contrary to one report, the zoo did not set any traps with mice for the snake. It simply kept the Reptile House dark and quiet.
"We wanted to just let her feel comfortable," he said. "We did everything we could to help her feel secure."
The snake escaped from a fiberglass box with a sliding glass front while no one was around.
"Clearly she finagled her way out of the enclosure," Breheny said of the cold-blooded Houdini.
Zoo officials are now reviewing the safety of the enclosures and plan to reopen the Reptile House soon.
The cobra will eventually go on exhibit - which should be a big draw, given its notoriety.
The hunt for the missing adolescent made headlines across the globe and prompted either anxiety or amusement from New Yorkers.
An anonymous wit even created a Twitter feed chronicling the reptile's made-up misadventures - and picked up nearly 200,000 followers, from Mayor Bloomberg to Ellen DeGeneres.
All along, zoo officials said they were confident the pencil-thin 20-inch-long reptile was still somewhere in the House of Reptiles, not roaming the city.
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