Last month we blogged about the Orlando cobra who escaped from its enclosure while the owner was away; now, finally after weeks of sustained paranoia, Elvis is back in the building.
The eight-foot-long cobra was found in an Orlando suburb not terribly far, about half a mile, from where it had escaped. A woman discovered the snake in her garage after hearing some curious hissing noises behind her dryer. The woman called Orlando County Animal Control after finding the source of the hissing.
Billy Ledford, an animal services officer with the OCAC, said that the woman “didn’t know exactly what kind of snake it was. All she knew was that it was a very large snake. I did notice when I was there it was acting aggressive and, of course, was hissing.”
Ledford added that Elvis was very agitated and fought him hard before finally being captured. Ledford was forced to call in back-up, and it took three officers to eventually put Elvis in a cat box (a typical snake box was not large enough for the gargantuan cobra) for transport.
The Orlando wildlife commission called off their search after weeks of looking and setting traps. Residents in the area were cautious about going outside, and local schools even prohibited children from leaving the buildings for some time.
Miraculously, nobody was harmed by the loose snake during its recapture or its month long vacation. Mike Kennedy, Elvis’ owner pled not guilty to a misdemeanor charge for failing to report the snake’s escape for two days. Had anyone been injured by the exotic pet, he would have likely been liable for damages.