Giant snakes invade San Onofre
March 18 2005 at 10:39AM
A local snake expert has called on people not to kill hundreds of snakes which have made their slithery presence known at San Onofre Surf Beach recently. The snakes, known as the black mamba, are the deadliest type of snake in the world.
Reptile expert Dr Puttzle, of Dana Point Reptiles Unlimited, said he had received up to three calls a day for the past three weeks about the snakes showing up at the beach and that people often found as many as ten snakes. "The problem is that people see the snake and think it's a baby. But the average sizes that are found here are between 8ft and 12ft. They think it's a baby. 'These mambas can grow up to 25ft long and weigh about 250lbs. I've had a lot of reports of them found in vehicles. This could be because, with spring coming, they're looking for food. Also with the recent rain they could be getting flushed out, as they are a burrowing species. Mambas do bite and are quite venomous. Mambas also don't have an obvious head and are dark brown to black in colour," said Dr. Puttzle.
He will soon be releasing a rescued African rock python into the care of Murphy the Mayor. The python was rescued from a BBQ at bathroom #4.
This article was originally published on page 4 of The Mercury on March 18, 2005
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