Photo: Dr. Georg Wietschorke / Pixabay
A man was found dead at his Maryland home Wednesday night, surrounded of more than 100 snakes, and some of them were poisonous, researchers said Thursday.
The Charles County Sheriff’s Department reported that authorities responded to the home in Pomfret after receiving a call from a neighbor who said he went to check on the resident and found him unresponsive on the floor. Emergency medical services personnel found a 49 year-old man dead on the floor, authorities said.
A forensic doctor will determine the cause of his death. Authorities said the man, whom authorities have not identified, apparently lived alone and his neighbors were unaware he had snakes in his home.
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Also inside the house, more than 100 “venomous and non-venomous snakes of different varieties in tanks located on shelves”
, authorities said. Venomous snakes are illegal in Maryland.
Jennifer Harris, Charles County Animal Control spokesperson told WRC-TV that the varieties of reptiles included pythons, rattlesnakes, cobras and black mambas.
Animal control officials responded to the home and began examining the huge collection of snakes, Harris said. “Our director of animal control said that in his more than 30 years of experience, he had not come across any something like that before.”
Charles County animal control officials were able to isolate the non-venomous snakes. Experts were brought in from North Carolina and Virginia to handle the venomous snakes. A team spent hours Thursday working to get the snakes out from the house.
The snakes appeared to have been meticulously cared for, the county spokeswoman said. The officials believe that all the snakes are accounted for.
“They were all very well secured. They were locked up. I didn’t keep a lot of furniture inside the house, so there was no place in case a snake, for example, escaped, where it could hide or harm someone,” Harris said.
Officials do not believe the snakes pose a risk to the public .
If any were to escape, it is not believed that they would be able to survive in the cold climate of the area. If anyone in the area sees a snake, they are asked to call the Sheriff’s office.
Charles County Sheriff’s detectives are conducting an investigation into the man’s death and an autopsy will be conducted by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore, the department said. Sheriff.
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