Suffolk County, NY - September 14, 2016 - On the morning of September 6, ECOs Jeff Hull, Marcia Goodrich, Emma Carpenter and Lieutenant Matt Blaising responded to a call from Suffolk County SPCA regarding a reptile owner who was bitten several hours earlier by his Egyptian saw-scaled viper, one of six venomous snakes he kept in his basement. In addition to the viper, the young man also owned an eastern diamondback rattlesnake, a western diamondback rattlesnake, an African puff adder, a monocled cobra (one of the deadliest snakes in the world) and a West African gaboon viper.
After being airlifted to Jacobi Medical Center, the victim was determined to have suffered a "dry bite," a wound in which no venom is injected into the victim's bloodstream. The consulting herpetologist stated that if the owner had received a full bite by that snake, or by any of the other five snakes for that matter, he likely would've died within an hour.
Long Island seems to be the epicenter for the possession of illegal venomous reptiles within New York State, with ECOs continually seizing illegal venomous reptiles. For ECO Carpenter, having just graduated DEC 21st Basic Academy on Friday, September 2, this was her first day on the job. An hour into her first shift, she found herself, with the help of a herpetologist, seizing some of the deadliest snakes in the world.
The owner of the snakes was issued summonses for six counts of possession of wildlife without a permit and another six counts of possession of dangerous venomous wildlife. All the snakes were turned over to a licensed venomous wildlife educator out of Massachusetts.